H 5468 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE May 23, 1995

and me at home trying to get by everyday. Let me talk to you about what has

happened to the Federal Government.

Receipts at the Federal Government

in that same time period, between 1963

and 1993, receipts are up 1,024 percent.

Expenditures, we all know we have created a deficit. It is no accident I put

the debt up here. Here it is, the red

ink, and it scares us. Expenditures at

the Federal level, they are not up 400

percent or 460 percent like wages and

the Consumer Price Index. Expenditures at the Federal level are up 1,241

percent, a staggering increase, three

times the amount of increase in Government spending as the amount of

earnings for the average blue collar

worker in America.

The figure I like to cite the most is

the deficit. Between 1963 and 1993,

while your wages and my wages and

the average American’s wages were

going up 400 to 460 percent, the deficit

that you and I ran up by spending too

much on the floor of this Congress is

up a staggering 6,102 percent. 6,000 percent increase in the deficit that we are

racking up.’

That burden is immoral. I look here

in the audience and there are some people, I would say some young people,

watching us here tonight, late in the

evening, kind of watching the floor of

the House when most of the Members

are gone. And those people in that audience tonight and the people back

home need to understand that it is simply morally wrong to impose that deficit, an increase of 6,100 percent, and

this red ink and debt, on them? To

carry their lifetimes? On our children?

On my children? I have a 13-year-old

and a 9-year-old. I am going to ask

them to pay that back because I didn’t

have the discipline? And on our grandchildren? I am telling you, we cannot

do it.

So that brings us to why we are

about this task. We are abut this task

because in part it has failed. Central

planning has failed. But it has not

failed to burden our children and

grandchildren.

By dismantling the four agencies we

are working on, Education, Commerce,

Energy and HUD, we are simply recognizing it is time to think outside the

box, that we can do better. That education, I will tell you, in education in

my district in Arizona, the constituents are clear. They sent me with one

message: Education is not the business

of the Federal Government. They believe that their local school board

ought to be responsible for setting the

policy and the parents and the teachers

can do the job.

Energy, I am on the task force to

eliminate the Energy Department. In

1970 there was an energy crunch. There

was a security concern. Today, with a

$7.8 trillion debt being the greatest

threat to our children and grandchildren, the Energy Department is a

demonstrated failure. If we cannot recognize that and go into it conscientiously, seriously, thoughtfully, as we

have done today in Commerce and as

we are doing in Energy and see what

are these functions, which should be

performed at the Federal level and

which of these should not, and which

should be performed by some other

agency and which should be handed

back to the States and which do not

need to be done by Government at all.

That is what this problem is about.

And it will, if we dismantle these inefficient agencies, if we have the courage

to be bold, it will save billions of dollars on our national debt and begin to

eliminate that line.

Let me conclude with just one last

point. Each time I go home to my district, I do not run into people who say

to me ‘‘I need more government.’’ I do

not run into people who ask me for

more programs. We did a town hall in

my district a few weeks ago. A gentleman came up to me and said he was

an executive, mid-level executive in a

company in Phoenix, and that in the

last 8 years his company had downsized

50 percent. It was half the size that it

was simply 8 years ago. And he said,

John, we are producing twice the product

that we produced that 8 short years ago.

Why? Because we have forced efficiencies.

Each year I take my budget in from my department to this corporation. Each year I

tell them what I think I need to get the job

done. Each year they come back to me and

give me a number that is too small. I tell

them I can’t do it. You know what? Each

year I have done it. Each year we have become more efficient.

That kind of efficiency is what we

need to bring to the Federal Government, and the elimination of these

wasteful agencies, like Commerce, like

Energy, like HUD, and like Education,

which have small functions that perhaps should be borne by the Federal

Government, but which ought to be

passed on to other agencies, and then

get rid of the Washington bureaucracy,

the Washington bureaucrats, we do not

need them. That is the way the American people expected us to lead their

Government.

Mr. FOX of Pennsylvania. Thank you

for your contribution and leadership

not only on the Committee on the

Budget, but as a federalist working to

make sure the freshman class works

with leadership to reduce the size of

the Federal Government and make it

more responsive.

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the efforts

to let us illuminate our colleagues on

this issues.

REVITALIZING THE AMERICAN

fECONOMY

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under

the Speaker’s announced policy of May

12, 1995, the gentleman from Michigan

[Mr. SMITH] is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority

leader.

Mr. SMITH of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, to continue this discussion of why

it is important to downsize Government and how we reach our goal of

having fewer taxes and greater responsibility in Government and greater individual responsibility for our citizens,

I would call on the esteemed chairman

of the task force that led the effort to

structure the dismantling of the Department of Commerce, Mr. DICK

CHRYSLER from Michigan.

Mr. CHRYSLER. Thank you very

much, NICK. It is good to be here. You

know, this task force that we put together to dismantle the Department of

Commerce, we had some very courageous and energetic and innovative

freshmen work on that committee as

well as some sophomores. Between the

freshmen and the sophomores, we are

54 percent of the majority, so we are

the majority of the majority. But

HELEN CHENOWETH, MARK SANFORD,

SUE KELLY, WES COOLEY, JIM TALENT,

JOE SCARBOROUGH, MARK NEUMANN,

JACK METCALF, SAM BROWNBACK, TODD

TIAHRT, and even NICK SMITH from

Michigan, helped us put this task force

together and brought this proposal forward today.

It was only 3 months ago that we announced a goal that had been unthinkable in previous Congresses, and that

was the elimination of the Departments of Commerce, Education, Energy, and Housing and Urban Development. The House budget resolution

that passed last week calls for the

elimination of three of those four Departments, and the Senate budget resolution calls for the elimination of the

Department of Commerce.

We said it back in February that it

was time to put the Department of

Commerce out of business, and we

promised to have specific legislation to

do just that by the spring. Today we

unveiled the vehicle to achieve this

goal, the Department of Commerce

Dismantling Act. It is promises made

and promises kept.

Our Commerce task force spent the

last 3 months studying every program

in the Department, putting each one

under the microscope. We asked three

questions of every program: First, is

this program necessary and is it worth

borrowing the money to pay for it only

to have our children pay it back? Second, if it is necessary, does the Federal

Government need to be involved or is it

something better left to the States,

communities, and/or individuals?

Third, if the Federal Government does

need to be involved, are we currently

doing the job in the most effective and

efficient manner?

The result of this analysis is what I

hold in my hand today, a specific stepby-step plan that will eliminate, privatize, or consolidate every aspect of

the Department of Commerce.

The Department of Commerce Dismantling Act creates a temporary

Commerce Program Resolution Agency

that will oversee a 3-year windup period of the Department of Commerce.

By cutting the unnecessary and wasteful programs immediately, we will save

our constituents $7.765 billion over the
May 23, 1995 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE H 5469

next 5 years. By consolidating the beneficial programs to be more streamlined and efficient, we are creating a

government that is more accountable

and responsible.

This is not just a reckless effort to

slash programs for the sake of cutting

Government. Our plan is well thought

out and clear in its intentions. If we

found that a program was duplicative,

we consolidated it. If a program was

better performed by the private sector,

we privatized it. If it was beneficial, we

streamlined it. And if we found a program that was unnecessary, we eliminated it.

As we said in February, the November election was a clear call for a

smaller, more efficient, and more focused Federal Government. The Department of Commerce Dismantling

Act delivers on this mandate by beginning to downsize a government that is

too big and spends too much money.

Mr. SMITH of Michigan. If the gentleman would yield on that point, I

think, DICK, it is so important that we

remind the American people the catastrophe that can happen if we do not do

some of the things that you are talking

about here today, that we are talking

about in our efforts to balance the

budget.

Let us just remind ourselves that we

have got a huge deficit, and we use the

words making our children and our

grandchildren pay for our overindulgence.

But what does that mean? That

means that today, with our overspending, we are taking money out of circulation by borrowing. We are borrowing this year 42 percent of all of the

money that is borrowed in the United

States.

Now, what happens when we demand

that we have that money, not caring

what the interest rate is? We drive up

interest rates. By demanding that we

have 42 percent of the money that is

out there to loan, that pressure on interest rates alone is going to be a depressant. It is going to be a downward

pressure on economic expansion and

jobs.

It is estimated that we can save 1.5

percent reduction in interest rates if

we end up balancing the budget. What

else do we do? We take the money out

of circulation. This year the money

that we are overspending could be used

for people to go to college, to build

homes, maybe, more importantly, to

expand their business and their jobs, to

have better jobs in this country.

If we are going to encourage those

businesses to buy the better tools to

put in the hands of great American

workers to make us more efficient,

then the downward pressure on interest

rates by balancing the budget is going

to do just that by tremendously lowering costs. If we allow businesses to expense the items that they buy, we

could reduce the cost of those items by

an estimated 16 percent.

I think it is important to just note

that we are not just doing this for the

sake of cutting down government. We

are going it because this pressure on

the economy of America is going to do

what all of the economists suggest, and

that is we are going to lose jobs for our

kids and our grandkids, in addition to

making them pay back the tremendous

debt that we have accumulated.

b 1900

Five trillion dollars we have now accumulated in debt, having no idea how

we are going to pay back. This effort to

look at the different departments and

agencies of government is so important, and I compliment you so very

much for the tremendous 80- and 90-

hour weeks that you have put in.

Mr. CHRYSLER. Certainly, we do

need lower taxes and less government,

and we need to let people keep more of

what they earn and save. We need to

let people make their own decisions

about how they spend their money, not

government, because people will always make a better decision. And we

cannot continue business as usual in

our Federal Government. We must

make the tough choices, as the gentleman said, in our budget priorities.

Our plan to dismantle the Department of Commerce provides positive

and constructive change in bringing

government back to the role it should

and must play. I know in the words of

Robert Frost, one of my favorite

poems, the last verse says, and I think

this speaks volumes for both the freshman and the sophomore class, we do

have promises yet to keep and miles to

go before we sleep, and miles to go before we sleep.

Mr. SMITH of Michigan. I thank the

gentleman very much.

I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. FOX].

Mr. FOX of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman. I appreciate

the opportunity to take a moment just

to thank Congressman CHRYSLER and

you for your leadership on this issue.

Congressman CHRYSLER has for the last

3 months worked exhaustively to make

sure that in a businesslike way because

he is someone who came to the Congress, who has been involved himself in

starting businesses and employing individuals, fighting the Federal regulations, trying to make a change.

Now he has brought that horse sense,

that common sense, business sense to

make us save dollars and cents here in

the Federal Government. I think we as

Members of Congress are the beneficiaries of DICK CHRYSLER’s wisdom

and his energy and the principles he

has brought here to help us reshape our

thinking.

We can talk about different agencies,

as Congressman SMITH has talked

about, in elimination and the duplication or consolidate or privatize. That

all sounds good, but every American

can make a difference in giving us recommendations on the kinds of activities that we are now involved with, Mr.

Speaker, whatever they are. Whatever

agencies that are now doing good activities for the country, if there are

ways we can do them better, let your

Congressman know, let Congressman

CHRYSLER know, let Congressman

SMITH know, let me know. Any agency

that can do a better job because of an

idea you have, they want to do their

job better. If it is better done in the

private sector, as Congressman CHRYSLER said, because it is really better left

to the private sector because it is not

a government function, we also need to

know that.

We started with four agencies. We

started historically for the first time

since 1969 having a balanced budget. We

think it is going to lead to a more responsible position, one that is more accountable to the American people.

I appreciate the time the gentleman

has given me to reflect on where we are

trying to go as a Congress in a bipartisan manner, Republicans and Democrats alike, Senators and Congressmen,

alike to work with the President to

move forward to make the Government

better, to make it more responsive and

more accountable. I think this is the

beginning. We have finished the contract and we are now into looking

closely at those Federal agencies. I

think we can make a difference, not

only in this Congress but in Congresses

to come. I appreciate the time you

have yielded to me.

Mr. SMITH of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman’s bipartisan efforts. I was delighted when the

President said that he was going to

offer a balanced budget that might

take 10 years to balance but such a difference between that and the budget

that the President gave Congress here

just 6, 7 weeks ago.

That budget actually increased deficit spending over the years so that by

the year 2002, we would have been borrowing or overspending $314 billion in

that year 2002. That is the year that we

call it zero with the budget proposal

that came out of the budget.

Mr. CHRYSLER. It is amazing to me

that in just 18 months, we will be

spending more money on just the interest on the debt than we spend right

now on the Army, the Navy, the Air

Force, the Marines, the CIA, the FBI,

and the Pentagon combined. And that

is money that is not going for any good

programs or any good purposes, not for

Medicare, not for Social Security, not

to help people that need the help, not

for Pell grants, not for education,

nothing except interest on a debt.

I tell you, we have got to get this deficit under control. Then we have got to

start working on eliminating this debt.

I think by holding spending to 1 percent less than our revenues, we can

have the debt paid off in this country

by the year 2025. I think that is every

bit as important as eliminating the

deficit.

Mr. SMITH of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman again. It is

so important to our future economy.

Greenspan, who is the head banker for

this country, chairman of the Federal
H 5470 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE May 23, 1995

Reserve, said that if we do not balance

the budget, because of the increased interest rates, because of the money that

we take out of circulation, because of

the overspending, because of the tremendous amount of this budget that it

takes to service the debt, pay interest

on the public debt, let me just mention

as a footnote, the interest this year on

the public debt is $339 billion. That represents 25 percent of all revenues coming in from all sources to the U.S. Government. We just cannot continue to

dig ourselves deeper in this hole of public debt.

Then if we look at Social Security,

the unfunded liability of Social Security, the actuary deficit now amounts

to an estimated $5 trillion. Medicare,

the unfunded liability or the actuary

deficit amounts to close to $8 trillion.

Depending on future workers to pay

the bills for current expenses, whether

we are talking about pension benefits

or whether we are talking about Social

Security or whether we are talking

about Medicare or whether we are talking about borrowing from future generations to pay for the overzealous

spending of this Congress must stop.

I complement WALLY HERGER for his

extraordinary efforts on the Committee on the Budget and as a member, esteemed member of this Congress that is

looking for ways to bring about more

responsible government.

By unanimous consent, leave of abLEAVE OF ABSENCE

fsence was granted to:

Mr. CALVERT (at the request of Mr.

ARMEY), for today and the balance of

the week, on account of official business relating to the Base Realignment

and Closure Commission.

Mr. LAHOOD (at the request of Mr.

ARMEY), for today, on account of attending his daughter’s graduation from

high school.

By unanimous consent, permission to

SPECIAL ORDERS GRANTED

faddress the House, following the legislative program and any special orders

heretofore entered, was granted to:

(The following Members (at the request of Ms. JACKSON-LEE) to revise

and extend their remarks and include

extraneous material:)

Ms. KAPTUR, for 5 minutes, today.

Mr. OWENS, for 5 minutes, today.

Mr. UNDERWOOD, for 5 minutes, today.

(The following Members (at the request of Mr. HAYWORTH) to revise and

extend their remarks and include extraneous material:)

Mr. GOSS, for 5 minutes each day, for

today and May 24.

Mr. MCINNIS, for 5 minutes each day,

for today and May 24.

By unanimous consent, permission to

EXTENSION OF REMARKS

frevise and extend remarks was granted

to:

(The following Members (at the request of Ms. JACKSON-LEE) and to include extraneous matter:)

Mr. POSHARD.

Mr. FORD.

Mr. KLECZKA.

Mr. MORAN.

Mr. FAZIO of California.

Mr. ACKERMAN.

Mr. TORRICELLI.

Mr. OBERSTAR.

Mr. VENTO.

Mr. COYNE.

Mr. REED.

Mr. UNDERWOOD in two instances.

Mrs. SCHROEDER.

Mr. WAXMAN.

(The following Members (at the request of Mr. HAYWORTH) and to include

extraneous matter:)

Mr. TALENT.

Mr. GILMAN.

Mr. FORBES.

Mr. BAKER of California.

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia in three instances.

Mr. SOLOMON.

Mr. BEREUTER.

Mr. PACKARD.

Mr. HOUGHTON in two instances.

Mrs. JOHNSON of Connecticut in two

instances.

Mrs. ROUKEMA.

Mr. DUNCAN.

Mr. EMERSON.

Mr. DAVIS.

Mr. SHUSTER.

Mr. LARGENT.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey.

Mr. ROGERS.

(The following Members (at the request of Mr. SMITH of Michigan) and to

include extraneous matter:)

Mr. CLAY.

Mr. BONILLA.

Mr. BENTSEN

f.

ADJOURNMENT

Mr. SMITH of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

The motion was agreed to; accordingly (at 7 o’clock and 7 minutes p.m.),

the House adjourned until Wednesday,

May 24, 1995, at 10 a.m.

EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS,

fETC.

Under clause 2 of rule XXIV, executive communications were taken from

the Speaker’s table and referred as follows:

899. A letter from the Secretary of Defense,

transmitting a report entitled , ‘‘Not-To-Exceed Cost Estimates for C–17 Aircraft’’; to

the Committee on National Security.

900. A letter from the Secretary of Defense,

transmitting a report on assistance to Red

Cross for emergency communications services for members of the Armed Forces and

their families, pursuant to section 383 of the

fiscal year 1995 National Defense Authorization Act; to the Committee on National Security.

901. A letter from the Director, Office of

Legislative Affairs, Department of the

Treasury, transmitting a copy of a certification by the President; regarding use of the

Exchange Stabilization Fund and Federal

Reserve in relation to the economic crisis in

Mexico, pursuant to section 406 of the Mexican Debt Disclosure Act of 1995; to the Committee on Banking and Financial Services.

902. A letter from the Secretary, Department of Education, transmitting the interim

report on the performance standards and

measurement systems developed by States

for their vocational education programs,

pursuant to Public Law 101–392, section 404

(104 Stat. 809); to the Committee on Economic and Educational Opportunities.

903. A letter from the Secretary, Department of Health and Human Services, transmitting a report on the efforts of the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect to

assist States in implementing a voluntary

reporting system on child abuse and neglect,

pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 5106f–1; to the Committee on Economic and Educational Opportunities.

904. A letter from the Postmaster General,

U.S. Postal Service, transmitting a report of

activities under the Freedom of Information

Act for calendar year 1994, pursuant to 5

U.S.C. 552(e); to the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight.

905. A letter from the Secretary, Department of the Interior, transmitting the 24th

annual report of the actual operation during

water year 1994 for the reservoirs along the

Colorado River; projected plan of operation

for water year 1995, pursuant to 43 U.S.C.

1552(b); to the Committee on Resources.

906. A letter from the Attorney General of

the United States, Department of Justice,

transmitting the 1994 annual report of the

Federal Prison Industries, Inc. [FPI], pursuant to 18 U.S.C. 4127; to the Committee on

the Judiciary.

907. A letter from the Comptroller General,

General Accounting Office, transmitting a

report entitled, ‘‘Military Bases: Analysis of

DOD’s 1995 Process and Recommendations

for Closure and Realignment’’ (GAO/NSIAD–

95–133, Apr. 14, 1995), pursuant to 31 U.S.C.

9106(a); jointly, to the Committees on National Security and Government Reform and

Oversight.

908. A letter from the Secretary of Defense,

transmitting the annual report for the National Security Education Program, pursuant to 50 U.S.C. 1906; jointly, to the Committees on Intelligence (Permanent Select) and

Economic and Educational Opportunities.

PUBLIC BILLS AND RESOLUTIONS

Under clause 5 of rule X and clause 4

fof rule XXII, public bills and resolutions were introduced and severally referred as follows:

By Mr. ANDREWS:

H.R. 1683. A bill to establish a Federal

cause of action for failure of State and local

public employee pension plans to meet the

terms of such plans, subject to differing burdens of proof depending on whether changes

in the plan relating to employer contributions are subject, under the law of the principal State involved, to qualified review

boards; to the Committee on the Judiciary,

and in addition to the Committee on Economic and Educational Opportunities, for a

period to be subsequently determined by the

Speaker, in each case for consideration of

such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.

By Mr. BLILEY (for himself, Mr.

SCOTT, Mr. WOLF, Mr. PICKETT, Mr.

BOUCHER, Mr. DAVIS, Mr. MORAN, Mr.

GOODLATTE, Mr. PAYNE of Virginia,

Mr. SISISKY, and Mr. BATEMAN):

H.R. 1684. A bill to require the Secretary of

the Treasury to mint coins in commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the birth of