January 13, 2009 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE H167 

‘‘jaw dropping,’’ and House Budget Committee Chairman Jack Spratt (D–SC) was 

suffering ‘‘sticker shock.’’ 4 They and their 

ranking member counterparts have encouraged lawmakers to tackle the long-term 

budget problems posed by these entitlement 

programs. Conrad and Senator Judd Gregg 

(R–NH) have urged Congress to link the 

stimulus with action to address the longterm budget crisis.5

If President-elect Ohama is serious about 

fiscal responsibility, he and responsible 

Members of Congress must insist on budget 

reforms to prevent further deterioration of 

an already alarming long-term budget problem and require action to tackle these challenges directly. To that end, he and responsible lawmakers should insist on these four 

key budget reform measures being included 

in any stimulus package: 

1. Put long-term obligations from Social 

Security, Medicare, and Medicaid front and 

center in the budget process, with an up-ordown vote on any budget that will increase 

debts on future generations. Such a measure 

could easily be incorporated into the annual 

budget resolution. This would provide a more 

accurate and transparent assessment of the 

federal government’s commitments and provide all Americans with a vivid picture of 

the problem. All major policy changes 

should be scored over the long term to indicate what impact they would have on the 

total unfunded obligations of the government. That would provide lawmakers and 

the public with a better understanding of the 

true long-term costs of new legislation. And 

to put Members on record on their attitude 

to burdening our children and grandchildren, 

they should have to vote during the annual 

budget process if the proposed budget will increase long-term obligations.6

2. Enact a bipartisan congressional commission to develop a package of long-term 

reforms that will make these programs affordable. Bipartisan legislation to implement this type of commission was introduced in the previous Congress: the SAFE 

Act (H.R. 3654), co-sponsored by Representatives Jim Cooper (D–TN) and Frank Wolf (R– 

VA), and the Bipartisan Task Force for Responsible Fiscal Action Act (S. 2063), cosponsored by Conrad and Gregg. Under both 

bills, a commission would craft detailed recommendations for a fast-track vote in Congress. The SAFE Act would have the added 

advantage of a two-step process. Its first 

phase would be a series of nationwide public 

hearings to talk frankly about the long-term 

fiscal problem and the tough options for fixing it and to build public support for congressional action on a broad plan of action.7

3. Establish equitable policies for assessing 

and enforcing spending and revenues changes 

in the budget. Any budget enforcement 

mechanism is based on changes in projected 

spending and revenues. The CBO projects a 

spending baseline by assuming that all the 

laws authorizing spending—such as the highway or farm programs, or even appropriations—will be extended year after year and 

spending levels will continue even if they expire regularly under existing law. But when 

it comes to taxes, the CBO’s baseline is current statute, and any rates reductions, deductions, credits. etc., that arc scheduled to 

expire are assumed to do so. The lopsided result is that spending is given a free ride 

under the baseline while any reduction in 

the growth of taxes is assumed to be temporary 

This skewed baseline means current 

‘‘PAYGO’’ rules are biased toward tax increases. Thus, for any enforcement mechanism to be considered fair and to be effective, it must be based on the same baseline 

treatment for both spending and revenues. 

Indeed, Obama’s own advisors have already 

criticized this lopsided policy treatment, 

which stacks the deck in favor of higher 

spending and higher taxes.8

4. Create a long-term budget for entitlement spending. Unlike ‘‘discretionary’’ programs such as defense and education, ‘‘mandatory’’ entitlement programs like Medicare 

and Social Security are not budgeted annually. Entitlement spending grows on autopilot, in conjunction with the programs’ regulatory framework, so there is not an open 

or transparent consideration of priorities or 

budgetary trade-offs. And since spending levels are simply the product of individuals 

using their entitlement, there is in a sense 

no budget just a projection of likely total 

costs. And as they grow unchecked, these entitlements crowd out other programs and 

priorities. 

This must change, by constraining entitlement programs with a real budget. To be 

sure, retirement programs require longer 

time horizons and planning than typical discretionary programs so that beneficiaries 

will not face unexpected annual changes in 

benefits. Therefore, Congress should create a 

long-term framework for a constrained entitlement budget that would be periodically 

evaluated to ensure that these programs are 

sustainable and affordable over the long 

term. This could be done by creating a longterm budget window—for example, 30 years. 

All spending would be reviewed every five 

years, and the commission could recommend 

measures for Congress to ensure that the 

programs live within this budget framework.9

There are many reasons to be concerned 

over the unprecedented stimulus spending 

now being proposed, including the ineffectiveness of Keynesian pump priming, the perils of such an immense hike in government 

spending, and the creation of new permanent 

government programs. With the first baby 

boomers recently retiring, America is experiencing the first waves of the entitlement 

tsunami. The stimulus legislation could set 

the stage for a permanent sea of red ink and 

an even larger tsunami of debt. Substantive 

budget reforms are needed to prevent such a 

scenario from occurring. 

Truly Serious? If President-elect Obama 

insists on a massive spending bill, he must 

ensure it does not result in huge permanent 

new government programs and thus potentially trillions of dollars in new burdens on 

our children and grandchildren. He must 

demonstrate his commitment to tackle the 

long-term entitlement challenges by working with Members of Congress to build sound 

budget process reform measures into the 

stimulus legislation. If he does not do so, the 

young Americans who voted for him should 

question how serious he is about protecting 

their financial future. 

ENDNOTES

1. Estimated FY 2008 appropriations $1.154 

trillion, prior to all enacted supplementals. 

Office of Management and Budget, ‘‘Budget 

of the United States Government Fiscal Year 

2009: Historical Tables,’’ Table 5.4, at 

www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2009/hist 

.html (January 9, 2009). 

2. See Brian M. Riedl, ‘‘CBO Budget Baseline Shows Historic Surge in Spending and 

Debt,’’ Heritage Foundation WebMemo No. 

2193, January 7, 2009, at http://www 

.heritage.org/research/budget,wm2193 (January 9, 2009). 

3. Department of the Treasury, ‘‘2008 Financial Report of the United States Government,’’ December 15, 2008, p. 41, at http:// 

fms.treas.gov/fr/index.html (January 9, 2009). 

4. Lori Montgomery, ‘‘Congress Urges 

Spending Restraint,’’ The Washington Post, 

January 8, 2009, at http://www. 

washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/ 

2009/01/07/AR2009010701156.html?hpid=topnew 

(January 9, 2009.) 

5. Senators Kent Conrad and Judd Gregg. 

‘‘A Fiscal Battle on Two Fronts,’’ The Washington Post, January 5, 2009, at http:// 

www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/04/AR2009010401436_pf.html (January 9, 2009). 

6. Alison Acosta Fraser, ‘‘Federal Budget 

Should Include Long-Term Obligations from 

Entitlement Programs,’’ Heritage Foundation Executive Memorandum No. 1004, June 

22, 2006, at http://ww.heritage.org/Research/ 

Budget/em1004.cfm. 

7. Alison Acosta Fraser, ‘‘The SAFE Commission Act (H.R. 3654) and the Long-Term 

Fiscal Challenge,’’ testimony before the 

Committee on the Budget, U.S. House of 

Representatives, June 25, 2008, at http://www 

.heritage.org/Research/Budget/tst062508b.cfm. 

8. J.D. Foster, Ph.D., ‘‘Obama to CBO Revenue Baseline: Nuts—and He’s Right!,’’ Heritage Foundation WebMemo No. 2019, August 

11, 2008, at http://www.heritage.org/Research/ 

Budget/wm2019.cfm. 

9. Stuart M. Butler, Ph.D., Alison Acosta 

Fraser and Other Authors, ‘‘Taking Back our 

Fiscal Future,’’ Heritage Foundation White 

Paper, March 31, 2008, at http://www 

.heritage.org/Research/Budget/wp0408.cfm. 

f 

THE NEW FRONTIER OF THE 21ST 

CENTURY 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The 

Chair recognizes the gentleman from 

Tennessee (Mr. COHEN) for 5 minutes. 

Mr. COHEN. Madam Speaker, last 

week, the 111th Congress was convened, 

and we started by electing our Speaker, the Honorable NANCY PELOSI, for a 

second term of Speaker of the House. 

The 111th Congress has much potential, much of it because the 107th, 108th 

and 109th Congresses failed as a Republican majority, and a Republican President let the free market dictate how 

our economy responded to economic 

pressures, and as a result, we have had 

the greatest economic catastrophe 

since the Great Depression. 

Those Congresses—the 107th, 108th 

and 109th—allowed the Republican 

President, on faith, to take us into a 

war that has cost us 4,000 American 

lives, over 30,000 casualties and over a 

half trillion dollars that has robbed our 

citizens and our cities, Madam Speaker, of monies needed for health care, 

education and infrastructure. 

The 110th Congress saw a Democratic 

majority come here, and it had an opportunity to pass legislation, some of 

which was approved by the President, 

was signed by the President or his veto 

was overridden. However, the President 

did veto several of our bills, including 

a children’s health care plan, which 

we’ll work on this week. We were unable to stop the hemorrhaging of our 

economy and of our young people’s 

lives in the Middle East. 

In both the election of a new President and in the 111th Congress’s opportunity to work with President-elect 

Obama, I believe this Congress will be 

viewed as one of the most historic Congresses in the history of our country. 


wwoods2 on PRODPC68 with HOUSE
H168 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE January 13, 2009 

We have the opportunity to restore 

America’s proper place in the world 

community as a nation that others see 

as a good and giving and intelligent 

country that shares the power of its 

ideas rather than the idea of its power, 

as President Clinton said, one that 

works in a multinational fashion to 

work with other countries to solve the 

problems around the globe. 

I have great confidence that Secretary of State CLINTON will see to it 

that women’s issues, children’s issues 

and health care issues will be dealt 

with by the United States as a leader 

around the globe and that people will 

see us as a friend and not a foe, as 

someone to be respected and not 

feared. 

Nevertheless, the military is always 

necessary for those who are incapable 

of seeing peace as the ultimate purpose 

in our time on Earth, and we will see 

to it that our military is effectively 

maintained. 

Climate change threatens the very 

Earth we inhabit, and the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, 

under the leadership of Representative 

Chairman JAMES OBERSTAR, will see to 

it that we address issues of importance 

that maintain the Earth as we know it, 

the flora and fauna as God has given 

them to us, and see that future generations aren’t impacted as greatly as 

they would be. 

The past Congresses did not deal with 

global warming. They did not sign the 

Kyoto Accord—the President did not— 

and they leave us with a problem there. 

So we’ve got a problem with the world 

community, a problem with the economy, a problem with the environmental standards that we need to 

adopt. Much to be done. It has all 

begun, but most of it won’t really get 

into full swing until after the inauguration of January 20. 

Madam Speaker, I urge every school 

system and every citizen to watch the 

inauguration of our next President on 

January 20. Allow students to watch 

that inauguration. Hopefully, it will 

instill in them the same spirit about 

government and the same hope that I 

had on January 20, 1961 when I watched 

John Kennedy take the oath of office. 

John Kennedy gave my generation 

the belief that politics could be an honorable profession and that government 

could be a useful tool in seeing our 

country and our world as a better 

place. To a goodly extent, I think we’ve 

lost that hope that the new frontier 

brought some 40-some-odd years ago. 

With the election of Barack Obama, 

hope again exists to the American people’s hearts and minds. I expect his 

oratory to embody the spirit of America—a spirit of working together and a 

spirit of change that is for the betterment of this country and for the world. 

I hope everybody watches. 

Please encourage your children to 

watch and to allow them to be inspired, 

for if they are, we’ll have a generation 

that will participate, that will vote and 

that will see to it that we have a better 

tomorrow. 

Madam Speaker, I am proud to serve 

in this Congress. I am very proud to 

serve with Speaker PELOSI. I am 

blessed to have the opportunity to 

serve with the new frontier of the 21st 

century, Barack Obama. 

Thank you very much. 

f 

HONORING THE MEMORY OF 

ZACHARY COOK 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The 

Chair recognizes the gentleman from 

California (Mr. SHERMAN) for 5 minutes. 

Mr. SHERMAN. I ask unanimous 

consent that the Chair consider recognizing the gentleman from Texas first 

and then recognize me. 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The 

Chair will do that as a matter of recognition. 

Mr. SHERMAN. Thank you. 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Texas may proceed for 5 

minutes. 

Mr. EDWARDS of Texas. Madam 

Speaker, today I rise to honor the 

memory of Zachary Cook, a 22-year-old 

Army officer and a 2008 graduate of 

Texas A&M University and its Corps of 

Cadets. Zachary died tragically yesterday in an Army helicopter crash on the 

A&M campus in College Station, Texas, 

in my district during Rudder’s Rangers 

annual winter field training. His loss 

brings a great sadness to his family 

and friends, the extended Texas A&M 

family, the Army, and to all of us deprived of this patriotic citizen who was 

dedicated to serving our great Nation 

in uniform. Zachary dreamed of flying 

Army helicopters and was thrilled to 

have received his recent Army commission. He was revered as a true friend to 

others, someone who truly inspired and 

mentored his friends. 

Madam Speaker, I believe the families and loved ones of our servicemen 

and women are truly the unsung heroes 

and heroines in our Nation’s defense, 

and that is why I want to express my 

regret and respect to the family of Mr. 

Cook. A grateful Nation owes them a 

deep debt of gratitude, and our 

thoughts and prayers are with them 

during this difficult time. I hope they 

take comfort in knowing that the spirit of service demonstrated by their 

loved one will touch and inspire the 

lives of others long after we are all 

gone from this Earth. 

Our thoughts and prayers are also 

with the four Texas National Guard 

members who were seriously injured in 

the crash. We pray for their speedy recovery. 

We humbly recognize that we can 

never repay fully Zachary or his family 

for their loss, but I hope that his family will know our Nation will never forget their sacrifice. 

May God bless the spirit of Zachary 

Cook and keep him lovingly in His 

arms. 

f 

BAILOUT BILL IS BACK 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The 

Chair recognizes the gentleman from 

California (Mr. SHERMAN) for 5 minutes. 

Mr. SHERMAN. Well, the $700 billion 

bankers’ bailout bill is back. Many of 

my colleagues didn’t enjoy voting on it 

twice last year, but it is back. It is 

back with two votes—one vote this 

week, one vote next week. This week, 

we will vote on Chairman FRANK’s bill 

(H.R. 384) to improve the TARP legislation, the $700 billion bill. I believe that 

Chairman FRANK’s bill is a step in the 

right direction but insufficient. Then 

on Friday, the Senate is expected to 

take up a resolution of disapproval. As 

you remember, the bill we passed last 

year, TARP, says that the executive 

branch gets the last $350 billion as soon 

as they ask for it, or 15 days after they 

ask for it, unless both the House and 

Senate pass a resolution of disapproval, 

and it provides for expedited consideration of such a resolution. 

So next Friday, January 16th, the 

Senate is expected to vote on a resolution of disapproval. Then on the following Wednesday, January 21, we will 

vote on a resolution of disapproval. 

Such a resolution would be effective 

only in the unusual circumstance that 

it passes both Houses of Congress, and 

even then it is subject to a possible 

Presidential veto. Still, this House 

must carry out its responsibilities. 

This week, hopefully the Rules Committee will allow us to consider amendments to strengthen Chairman FRANK’s 

bill. And next week we have to vote on 

releasing the second $350 billion. When 

we vote next week, we will at that 

point have before us just the existing 

statute passed last year, because even 

if Chairman FRANK’s bill passes, even if 

it is made much stronger than it is 

now, it will be languishing in the Senate next week, and we in the House will 

have no idea whether it will ever become law. So when we vote to release 

the second $350 billion, we’re basically 

voting again for the TARP bill, except 

for three differences. 

First, we know a lot more now than 

we knew then. Second, the unprecedented transfer of money and power to 

the administration will be to the new 

administration in which many of us 

have far greater faith. And, finally, we 

will hopefully have before us a letter 

from the incoming administration indicating how they will use the enormous 

power and discretion conveyed by the 

existing TARP statute. 

It is my hope that such a letter be 

explicit, be unequivocal, and be comprehensive. Explicit, so that we know 

exactly what they’re going to do and 

what rules they’re going to live by. Unequivocal, hopefully signed by the 

President, and a clear statement of the 

rules the administration will live by, 

not just a statement of principles or 

present intentions. And, finally, comprehensive. It should deal with the concerns that we all have, or that so many 

of us have, about the existing TARP 

legislation. 

Chairman FRANK’s bill will deal with 

transparency and deal with home foreclosures. And my hope is that since 


wwoods2 on PRODPC68 with HOUSE