[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 5]
[House]
[Page 7062]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   DEMOCRATS WILL CLEAN UP FISCAL MESS CREATED OVER THE LAST 6 YEARS

  (Mr. PERLMUTTER asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. PERLMUTTER. Good morning, Madam Speaker.
  This week, the House Budget Committee will prepare a Democratic 
budget that begins the process of fixing a fiscal mess created by 
President Bush and congressional Republicans over the last 6 years. 
This is not something that can be done in one year. After all, it took 
the prior Congresses and administration 6 years to turn a $5.6 trillion 
surplus into a $2.8 trillion deficit. That's a fiscal collapse over a 
6-year period of more than $8 trillion. The misguided budget priorities 
of this administration have forced the President to borrow more money 
from countries like Japan and China than all of his 42 predecessors 
combined. That is not only a budget concern but also a serious national 
security concern.
  It's time that we get our fiscal house in order. The Democratic 
budget will restore fiscal sanity here in Washington by actually 
balancing the budget over the next 5 years. This is something that the 
Republicans were not able to accomplish over the last 6. The Democratic 
budget will bring about change and a new direction in sound budgetary 
policies.

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