[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 19]
[House]
[Page 25702]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




BLUE DOGS OFFER ALTERNATIVE 12-POINT DEFICIT REDUCTION PACKAGE THAT IS 
                           BETTER FOR AMERICA

  (Mr. MATHESON asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. MATHESON. Mr. Speaker, later on today, the House is going to vote 
on a budget reconciliation package and, from what we are hearing, up is 
down and down is up.
  We are supposed to be here to be lowering the deficit. I am concerned 
about the deficit. We should not be burdening future generations with 
our consumption today. Yet the package being put forth today by the 
majority, the package of spending cuts, but also tax cuts, is going to 
end up with an increase in our deficit of $16 billion. That is not 
right.
  Look, deficit reduction is hard to do. It requires some tough 
choices. The only way, in my opinion, that this Congress is going to 
take on those tough choices is if we put in a set of rules that force 
us to do it.
  The Blue Dog Democrats have a 12-point plan that will put those 
provisions in place: a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution, 
real pay-as-you-go rules. Those are just two of the 12 provisions that 
would require this Congress to come together and make those very tough 
decisions; and they will be tough, let us not deny it.
  Mr. Speaker, if we want to show fiscal responsibility, if we want to 
do right by future generations, we will come together in a bipartisan 
way. That is not what is happening today. It is very unfortunate.
  I encourage my colleagues to vote down this package today.

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