[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 11]
[House]
[Pages 14658-14659]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        REPUBLICANS AND SPENDING

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Franks of Arizona). Under a previous 
order of the House, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Stenholm) is 
recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. STENHOLM. Mr. Speaker, just yesterday, the Congressional Budget 
Office projected the Federal Government will end fiscal year 2003 with 
the largest deficit in the history of our country, more than $400 
billion. The Republican leadership responded to that news by scheduling 
a vote today on legislation that would add another $100 billion in debt 
over the next decade. The Republican leadership claims that we can 
afford their tax cuts and balance the budget by controlling spending. 
Unfortunately, the Republican rhetoric about controlling spending does 
not match the reality of their own record.
  In the 8 years since Republicans took control of Congress, 
discretionary spending has increased by an average of 6.5 percent per 
year, compared to an average of 1.6 percent in the previous 8 years. 
President Bush signed spending bills increasing spending by nearly 22 
percent in the first 2 years he was in office.
  Now, some of that was uncontrollable, due to the war and 9/11, but 
not all of it. When Republicans took control of Congress in 1994, total 
spending was $1.4 trillion. Under their budget they propose to spend 
$2.2 trillion next year, an increase of over $800 billion over 10 
years.
  If we are going to come to the floor day after day, tax cut after tax 
cut, a tax cut a week, if that is your strategy, and you say we are 
going to control spending, you have got to do something about your 
record.
  This is the way spending is going to increase under the budget that 
the majority has put forward this year. By the end of this decade, 
total spending under the Republican budget will be more than double 
what it was when Republicans gained control of Congress. You would not 
gather that by the rhetoric we heard again today. We just keep talking 
over each other.
  But these are the facts of what is happening. If we are going to cut 
taxes and if we are going to do the things that you propose to do every 
week, then you have got to cut spending. Otherwise we are going to run 
this country into the ground. And you are not proposing to do it.
  Earlier this week, the administration and Republican leadership have 
already agreed to increase discretionary spending for the next year by 
$5.2 billion, an increase above the budget resolution they passed just 
2 months ago.
  Just today, the administration has informed the Committee on 
Appropriations that they will request another $1.6 billion in 
supplemental spending for the current fiscal year, an increase. The 
Blue Dog budget called for tough spending limits by adopting the 
President's overall spending levels.
  I have no quarrel with what the majority proposed on discretionary 
spending. This is the green line. I have no quarrel with that.
  The budget conference report the Republicans passed earlier this year 
is essentially adopting the spending levels we had in the Blue Dog 
budget, and that was supported by a majority of Democrats. The Blue 
Dogs are willing to work with Republicans to hold the line on spending 
at levels in their budget resolution. Unfortunately, the actions of the 
last few days show that the Republicans are not willing to stick with 
the spending levels in their own budget, but yet we keep talking about 
we are going to control spending.
  The Republican budget policies are increasing the most wasteful 
spending in the Federal budget, the $332 billion collected from 
taxpayers simply to cover our national interest payments. This debt tax 
consumed a whopping 18 percent of all Federal tax dollars this year, 
and will increase to 20.1 percent by 2013. This is an increase in the 
debt tax that working men and women are going to have to pay in order 
to fulfill the economic policy that we keep hearing about every day.
  The bill that passed the House today would add another $31 billion in 
spending, spending, spending. We had a $3.48 billion problem, and what 
does the leadership on this side of the aisle propose to do? Spend 
$30.39 billion more to solve a $3.48 billion problem.
  I do not know how much longer we can do that. It does not seem to 
bother anybody on the other side of the aisle. I used to join with you 
day after day after day in saying we need to balance our Federal 
budget. I used to vote with you. I have not changed my voting pattern.
  Under the Republican budget plan, the national debt will increase to 
over $12 trillion by 2013. Now, that may not bother anyone, and we can 
have another tax cut next week, which I understand we are going to 
have.
  But let me say at this point, in closing, Mr. Speaker, the Blue Dogs 
have issued a letter of challenge to the Republican Message Group. I 
have spoken with the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Kingston). We would 
like to have a little debate on this. We have got responsible people on 
both sides of the aisle that are just as worried about this as we are.
  Instead of talking over each other and reading our 2-minute speeches 
and acting like we are not even in the same world, the Blue Dogs are 
challenging at least once every week, every night, for the rest of this 
year, if that is what we agree to do, to talk about these issues, and 
not just have me standing up pointing to the charts, but having my 
friends on the other side stand up and say, ``You are all wet, Charlie. 
That is not the way it is,'' even though these come right out of your 
budget and the OMB.
  I think we need to have a real debate on this issue. So we are making 
this challenge, I am making it publicly right now, and I look forward 
to Special Orders next Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday, in which we can 
sit down and talk about this.
  If we are going to talk about controlling spending, then let us 
propose a budget that does it. Let us not vote down the Blue Dog budget 
that would

[[Page 14659]]

have been balanced. Let us not talk about a constitutional amendment, 
which, by the way, I am for and we will be starting the charge on that 
also next week to require a balanced budget.
  If you are going to talk about it, you have to be prepared to do 
those things necessary to do it. And you do not cut taxes and increase 
the debt cost, the interest debt cost by $30 billion to solve a $3 
billion problem. It will not work.
  As we say back home in Texas, ``that dog won't hunt.''

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