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[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 177 (Thursday, November 20, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2319-E2320]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

 URGING THE NEW PRESIDENT TO SUPPORT THE BIPARTISAN SAFE COMMISSION ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. FRANK R. WOLF

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, November 20, 2008

  Mr. WOLF. Madam Speaker, I have never been more concerned about the 
short- and long-term budget shortfalls we face as a Nation. These 
issues must be addressed simultaneously in a bipartisan way.
  I share with our colleagues the letter I sent today to President-
elect Barack Obama, urging him to adopt the SAFE Commission process as 
a way to provide a path toward a safe and secure economy for 
generations--a renaissance for America.

                                    Congress of the United States,

                                     House of Representatives,

                                Washington, DC, November 20, 2008.
     Hon. Barack Obama,
     Office of the President-elect,
     Chicago, IL.
       Dear President-elect Obama: As you prepare to take the oath 
     of office as the 44th president of the United States, I want 
     to congratulate you on your historic election, which has 
     reminded the nation that America is indeed a land of 
     boundless opportunity.
       I write today because you face enormous challenges of 
     change in building an administration in a time of economic 
     turmoil and financial crisis for the American people. As 
     syndicated columnist Robert Samuelson recently wrote, ``The 
     great project of the next president is to improve the 
     economy's stability without subverting its vitality.''
       Recent congressional action aimed at shoring up the 
     nation's financial system and restoring the flow of credit to 
     help folks keep their homes or small businesses, get student 
     loans or car loans, and protect the value in their retirement 
     accounts I believe addresses only a symptom of a far greater 
     financial crisis on the horizon. I voted for the financial 
     rescue plan because I believed that immediate action was 
     critical to restore confidence and stability in the Nation's 
     financial system. I remain deeply concerned, however, not 
     only by the debt burden nearing $11 trillion, but also by the 
     mounting deficit spending, predicted to reach $1 trillion 
     this fiscal year alone.
       You are inheriting not only a short-term deficit and debt 
     problem, but a looming long-term crisis former Comptroller 
     General David Walker has characterized as ``a financial 
     tsunami that could swamp our ship of state.'' Mr. Walker, of 
     course, is referring to the current $53 trillion in unfunded 
     obligations promised through Medicare, Social Security, and 
     other entitlement programs which have skyrocketed from about 
     one-third of the federal budget in 1965 to nearly two-thirds 
     today. As if that amount were not difficult enough to 
     comprehend, it is expected that when the new total is 
     released in mid-December, it is likely to be over $56 
     trillion. That means in just a year, spurred by soaring 
     health care costs and retiring baby boomers, our Nation's 
     unfunded commitments have jumped another $3 trillion. It's 
     noteworthy that the obligation of Medicare alone is 50 times 
     the $700 billion rescue bill.
       I believe both short- and long-term budget shortfalls must 
     be addressed simultaneously. Yet I fear this daunting task is 
     only part of the immense challenges of change our nation 
     faces. I also continue to be alarmed that America is losing 
     its competitive edge in the world economy. Once bustling 
     U.S. cities and towns that were home to industrial and 
     manufacturing bases are shuttered and crumbling.
       On a drive across the old cast iron bridge linking downtown 
     Trenton, New Jersey, with Morrisville, Pennsylvania, you will 
     read the outdated slogan etched in rusted letters, ``Trenton 
     Makes, the World Takes.'' There was a time when Trenton made 
     the steel used for the world's longest suspension bridges, 
     its cars, and farm tools. But Trenton, like so many other 
     U.S. centers of domestic manufacturing, today is a shell of 
     its past. The slogan today could be, ``The World Makes and 
     America Takes.''
       And it's not only America's competitive edge that is 
     dulling. The United States has always been the world's 
     innovation leader, but we graduate half the number of 
     physicists that we did in 1956--before Sputnik spurred 
     America's last ``great awakening'' in science and 
     engineering. I worry that the National Science Foundation 
     reported that in 2004 China and India graduated 950,000 
     engineers compared to a meager 70,000 in the United States, 
     and one-third to a half of those we graduate with science and 
     engineering degrees are foreign students, and most will 
     return to their home countries rather than applying their 
     skills in the U.S. I worry that U.S. patents are down. I 
     worry that our companies are spending more on tort litigation 
     than on research and development.
       How will we remain competitive, how will we rebuild our 
     manufacturing base, how will our children compete in the 
     global marketplace with the tsunami of mandatory spending 
     obligations coming closer to our shores and the national debt 
     racing past $10 trillion? As the rate of mandatory spending 
     grows, discretionary spending used to meet the needs and 
     challenges of future generations shrinks. What will we tell 
     our children when we can't afford to pay for a first-class 
     education? Where will we find the money to rebuild the 
     nation's infrastructure and transportation systems? What hope 
     do we provide for American families touched by health care 
     concerns and battling devastating diseases when we don't have 
     funds for medical research to find cures for cancer, 
     Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, and autism? Not only is this 
     unacceptable, I believe it raises serious moral questions. Is 
     it right for one generation to live very well knowing that 
     its debts are being passed on to its children and 
     grandchildren?
       Routinely increasing the amount of money the government can 
     borrow without taking any action to stem the country's 
     growing debt has been standard operating procedure in 
     Congress. But the storm warning signs have been posted. 
     Standard and Poor's Investment Service has projected that the 
     U.S. could lose its triple-A bond rating as early as 2012, 
     while Moody's delays its projection to 2018. It's hard to 
     believe that the United States of America could be such a 
     poor investment risk that it is poised to lose its gold 
     standard rating.
       As our nation's financial outlook erodes, we also are 
     mortgaging the economic opportunity of future generations to 
     countries like China and Saudi Arabia, two of the largest 
     holders of U.S. debt. You may have seen The Washington Post 
     report earlier this week that China now owns nearly $1 out of 
     every $10 in U.S. public debt. Are we willing to allow 
     China--a country that persecutes its own people because of 
     their faith--or Saudi Arabia--which breeds the kind of 
     radical ideology that led to the terrorist attacks on our 
     country--to own what generations of Americans have worked so 
     hard to build for their children and grandchildren? This is 
     the same China linked to cybersecurity attacks on the 
     computer systems in congressional offices and committees, in 
     federal agencies and even at the White House.
       How do we respond to these challenges of change? Where do 
     we start? I bring to your attention one plan already in 
     place. It has attracted the support of 111 bipartisan members 
     of the House of Representatives and newspapers and think 
     tanks across the political spectrum. I believe it is an idea 
     upon which you can build with bold, courageous and bipartisan 
     leadership.
       Democrat Rep. Jim Cooper of Tennessee and I have teamed to 
     offer legislation to create a national bipartisan commission 
     to review the totality of our nation's financial future--
     entitlement spending, other federal spending and tax policy. 
     This proposal differs significantly from other blue ribbon-
     type panels, however, because it has teeth and mandates 
     action, similar to the base closing commission. After 
     spending several months holding town hall meetings across the 
     country, gathering comments and explaining the depths of 
     America's current unsustainable financial problems, the 
     commission will report back to Congress. The legislation 
     requires Congress to vote up or down on the commission's 
     recommended plan of action. The proposal is called the SAFE 
     Commission--Securing America's Future Economy--and a 
     companion effort has gained traction in the Senate.
       While we have been encouraged with the support generated by 
     the SAFE proposal, I have been disappointed that Congress 
     continues to languish in the political divide while the 
     financial tsunami edges closer. In 1968 songwriter Paul Simon 
     wrote ``The Boxer.'' You may recall its refrain: ``Man hears 
     what he wants to hear and disregards the rest.'' That could 
     describe Congress's reaction, or lack thereof, to the 
     financial crisis staring America square in the face. The 
     American people deserve to know the truth, not just what we 
     think they want to hear.
       Your former colleague Senate Budget Chairman Kent Conrad, 
     sponsor of the SAFE Commission idea in the Senate, said that 
     he supported your candidacy because you are ``somebody that 
     reaches out to bring people together to get results,'' noting 
     that ``nobody is more responsible for that than the president 
     of the United States. It starts at the top.''
       America is facing extraordinary challenges that call for 
     extraordinary action. I worry about the future for my five 
     children and 13 grandchildren and your two young children if 
     we do not act now to make certain that America continues to 
     be a land of boundless opportunity. I believe the SAFE 
     concept can provide the outline of a plan that you as 
     president could embrace in the 111th Congress which 
     convenes in January. Enactment of the legislation setting 
     up the commission during the first session next year would 
     ensure a vote on the commission's recommendations during 
     the second session in 2010. Your active support of the 
     SAFE Commission effort in Congress would signal the 
     critical immediacy of attacking this problem head on in 
     the only way I believe it will be solved--by working 
     together in a bipartisan way.
       America is yearning for bipartisanship. With your 
     leadership in reaching across the aisle of Congress to bring 
     people together, I believe we can start down the path that 
     will lead to a renaissance in America and ensure that the 
     essential goodness of the United States endures.

[[Page E2320]]

       I would be pleased to speak with you about the SAFE 
     Commission plan, and I wish you Godspeed as you begin your 
     presidency.
           Sincerely,
                                                    Frank R. Wolf,
     Member of Congress.

                          ____________________
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