Date: 1997-05-23
Speaker: TRENT LOTT (republican)
Chamber: S

for his effort and commitment to making this agreement possible. and the President of the United States for his willingness to negotiate and compromise. I know that it is the hope and expectation of most Americans that President Clinton will continue to stay focused on the balanced budget goal and see this plan through to fruition. And. finally. we should also recognize the other leaders of the House and the Senate who were engaged in this process. They. too. pursued this resolution with determination and vigorand forged consensus on some very divisive issues. We would not be here today without their leadership. But Mr. President. we have also reached this encouraging point in our budget deliberations becauseat last.there is a widespread recognition that deficits threaten this Nation in unacceptable ways--and that decisive action is needed now to ward off economic crisis. The numbers speak for themselves. According to estimates from the Presidents own Office of Management and Budget. if we do nothing. the deficit will double in 15 years. then double again every 5 years thereafter. "Left unchecked. according to OMB. the deficit would reach $2 trillion by 2025. We also know that such a scenario would prove intolerably costly to this Nation. OMB forecasts that if we fail to reign in the deficit now. future generations will suffer an 82percent tax rate and a 50percent reduction in benefits in order to pay the bills we are leaving them today. And the Congressional Budget Office has issued a similarly grave warning. arguing a year ago that: "* * * current U.S. budget policies cannot be sustained without risking substantial economic damage." Eightytwopercent tax rates. Fiftypercent reductions in benefits. Substantial economic damage. This is not some futuristic nightmare. Mr. President. This is the economy that lies ahead for America unless we act now. unless we lay the groundwork for longterm deficit elimination by adopting this resolution. Mr. President. this agreement provides us with an historic opportunity to place our country back on the right fiscal path. But it also provides the American people some assurance that our political process can work. After more than 2 years of competing proposals. acrimonious debates. and fruitless negotiations. many Americans have become understandably cynical of our ability and even willingness to ever agree on a plan to balance the budget. But this agreement should give us some hope. It proves that we can compromise on specifics without compromising on principlethat when an agreement indisputably benefits the American people. we can set aside partisanship and get the job done. Of course. while the resolution before us today is an encouraging one and should be celebrated. we should also recognize what it is not. This is only a first step. Mr. President. and no Member of this body can say with certainty that this resolution signals a conclusive end to the failed budget politics of old. Indeed. I believe that only a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution can ensure that fiscal prudence and responsibility will be exercised indefinitely into the future. And let me be clear about another matter. The budget resolution before us is not perfect. Are there flaws in it? Yes. Mr. President. I think there are. In fact. I suspect that every Member of this body could find aspects that trouble- them in this resolutionaspects that they may have written in a slightly or even greatly different manner. For instance. some may criticize this resolution because it expands new entitlements or does too little to reform existing entitlements before the baby boom generation begins to retire. In fact. it is with the latter concern in mind that I am particularly troubled by the assumption of home health care being shifted from part A to part B of Medicare. I fear that this shift may actually imperil this vital program even as it masks the true problems of the Medicare trust fund. which must be addressed if we are to preserve and protect the Medicare Program for senior citizens in the future. Still others may criticize this plan as being insufficient in terms of deficit reduction because it would cut the deficit by only 1 percent of todays GDP over the next 5 years. or because it provides what they consider to be too much of an increase in discretionary spending. To put these types of concerns in the words of one analyst from the CATO Institute: "On balance. this is a bad deal. Republicans should just say no." Conversely. there are those who may see the cuts quite differently and argue that this agreement goes too far in cutting certain programs and does too little to fund new initiatives. Still others do not support the tax relief included in this resolution. or argue that the package of tax cuts being discussed would disproportionately benefit higher income individuals or families. But Mr. President. after 28 years of deficit spending. we can no longer let the perfect be the enemy of the good. We can no longer let politics drive our budget decisions because for 2 years--2 years. Mr. PresidentRepublicans and Democrats have squaredoff over a variety of issues. while offering competing plans. And the result has been wholly unimpressive. There has been no agreement. No plan for a balanced budget. And I think its worth noting that the only reason that we have this resolution before us today is that competing budget plans were unsuccessful. It is compromise that offers us this chance to reach agreement and lay the groundwork for longterm balance. But if each Member of this body rejects such compromise and demands instead that the plan do exactly what he or she would want in the ideal world. then only one thing is for sure: This plan will be derailedand our historic op-" portunity will be lost. And lest we focus only on those parts of the budget that are less than perfect. lets not overlook the incredibly positive aspects of this plan. For instance. not only will this plan balance the budget in the year 2002. if its policies are continued. OMB tells us that it will lead to a surplus of $34 billion in the year 2007. And while many have cited the fact that the total deficit reduction in this plan will be only $204 billion over the next 5 years. they fail to mention that there will be more than $700 billion in additional savings during the 5 years thereafter. Consider for a moment the two dramatically different futures that potentially lie ahead for this Niation: If we reject this plan and continue with the status quo. we will add another $1.1 trillion to the national debt over the next 10 years. On the other hand. if we use the 2002 to 2007 surpluses to buydown the debt. this plan will ensure that more than $800 billion would be available for useful investments. and not eaten up by the national debt. Perhaps most importantly. by putting us on a course to balance the budget in 5 short years. this plan will also allow us to address the significant longterm threats described by OMB and CBO because we will have laid the groundwork for even larger reforms in the coming years. And it will also hold future Congresses accountable to maintain this same level of fiscal responsibility. And lets not forget the important impact that a balanced budget will have on economic growth. I know that there are those who say that our economy is doing well. They point to the growth rate for the last economic quarter and the fact that we now have had continuous growth for 6 straight years. and they say things could not be rosier. And its at least partly true. Mr. President. We are now approaching the postWorld War II record for the longest period of growth without a recession. But no one is projecting that the economy will maintain this pace. and the average annual rate of growth during the current 6year streak has been an unimpressive 2.5 percentthe lowest level of growth during a recovery in this century. But. tragically. even this lethargic annual rate of growth is not predicted to lastand cannot lastunless we tackle the deficit now. Look out to future years and we see that the economy is anticipated to grow at even more anemic rates. �2.0 percent in 1998. 2.1 in 2000. The numbers are not impressive. However. with the enactment of a balanced budget plan. CBO tells us that potential growth will be enhanced because resources now devoted to consumption can instead be used for investment. So. Mr. President. this resolution presents us with our most direct and tangible means of stimulating economic growth in the shortterm. even as we seek to extend our current economic expansion for another 5 years. And. finally. to those concerned with various details of the plan. lets remember this: Within the framework of this resolution. there are specific levels of savings in various programs. specific levels of tax cuts and the resolution even includes some of the policies that should be used to achieve these targets. But. appropriately. this resolution does not spell out all of the details. and it leaves opportunities for the authorizing and appropriating Committees to fulfill the parameters and benchmarks that have been set. So lets rememberthat the goal of this resolutiona balanced budget in 2002--is in ink. but some of the details are still in pencil. And thats OK. The administration will continue to have the opportunity to encourage specific spending priorities. and Members of this body will also have their opportunity to influence and mold these decisions. Now. Mr. President. let me address one final question. Whenever there is a political initiative as significant as the one before us. pundits begin to ask: "Who is the political winner in this agreement? Is it Republicans? Or is it Democrats?" Well. let me suggest an answer: The winner in this resolution is our Nation and its people. Deficits have damaged this Nation and its citizens for 28 years and set us on an inevitable economic crash course. But today. with this resolution. we have an opportunity to avert this crash by ending these deficits in the shortterm. which lays the groundwork for eliminating them completely in the longterm. What lies before us is a framework for achieving a balanced budget by 2002 and holding off the pending disaster that inaction invites. So I think our goal could not be more clear: We cannot let this opportunity slip through our hands. We must begin anewnever again permitting our Nation to be recklessly endangered by deficits and deficit spending. We must move forward with a recognition that our budget belongs to the peopleand. as such. it must always be handled carefully and responsibly. These are our challenges--and. together. we can and must meet them. Mr. President. "a journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step." I am reminded of this Chinese proverb today because this resolution represents such a monumental first step in our journey to a balanced budget. To be sure. our journey is not complete. And it will not be complete unless Members of this body. the House of Representatives. and the President maintain a strong commitment in the coming years to follow through and make this balanced budget goal a reality. We cannot falter in these coming challenges. But. in the meantime. we should celebrate today for all that it represents. Mr. President. this resolution places our Nation on the right path and. against a future of uncontrolled deficits and all that the dangers and problems that these deficits entail. this resolution gives us hope for a new beginning of fiscal sanity. economic growth. and prosperity. So I think our choice shouldbe clear. We need to take this pathand we need to adopt this resolution. The benefit of doing so. Mr. President. is too great. The cost of failing to do so. conversely. is simply too severe.