[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 16150]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        THE FAILINGS OF CONGRESS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Hill) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. HILL. Mr. Speaker, if Congress were to receive a fiscal 
responsibility report card, there would not be a single passing grade. 
Congress should receive an ``F'' for failing when it comes to taking 
care of our Nation's fiscal security. Congress should receive an ``F'' 
for failing to pass a budget resolution conference report.
  Both the Senate and the House are controlled by the same party, and 
yet no agreement was reached on simply setting a budget that Congress 
should stick to. So much for taking fiscal responsibility seriously.
  Congress should receive an ``F'' for so poorly managing the 
taxpayers' money that the debt ceiling will have to be raised by over 
$8 trillion in just a few short months.
  For the third time in 3 years, the majority party needs to increase 
the debt limit. Last year we saw the largest debt limit increase in 
history, $984 billion, Mr. Speaker, and now we are looking at another 
$690 billion increase just to keep the Federal Government running.
  Congress should receive an ``F'' for failing to pass spending caps 
and pay-as-you-go legislation, or PAYGO. Pay-as-you-go is a common-
sense piece of legislation that Congress ought to pass if we are going 
to be serious about putting this fiscal House back in order. Simply 
put, PAYGO provides the blueprint for getting our Nation out of the red 
ink that we are swimming in.
  The PAYGO rules Congress and the President enacted in 1990 were an 
important part in getting a handle on the deficits in the early 1990s 
and getting the budget back into balance. The pay-as-you-go rules 
enacted in 1990 have been tested, and they have passed. There is no 
question that significantly improved the responsibility and 
accountability of the budget process and were instrumental in getting 
from large deficits in the 1980s and early 1990s to budget surpluses in 
the late 1990s.
  The one area that this Congress and administration has excelled in is 
its ability to run up massive amounts of debt. This year alone we are 
expected to run approximately a $425 billion deficit, just this year 
alone, the worst deficit in the United States history, every dime of 
which must be paid back.
  Had Congress and the administration worked in a bipartisan manner 
with the Blue Dog Coalition, they could have passed a budget and PAYGO. 
Instead, they forged a partisan path, and the American people are left 
with neither. The American people deserve a better grade than failure 
on fiscal responsibility from their elected officials. The President is 
fond of saying it is the people's money, and he is correct. It is the 
people's money. And I believe that the people deserve to have our 
Nation managed in a fiscally responsible manner.
  Let us stop playing politics with our financial security. Instead, 
pass real, meaningful PAYGO legislation and get our Nation's fiscal 
health back in order.

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