Allen Boyd

Mr. BOYD

Mr. BOYD. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall no. 385, I was unable to cast my vote due to a previous commitment in my district. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''

Mr. BOYD

Mr. BOYD. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 386, I was unable to cast my vote due to a previous commitment in my district. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''

Mr. BOYD

Mr. BOYD. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 384, I was unable to cast my vote due to a previous commitment in my district. Had I been present, I would have voted ``nay''.

Mr. BOYD

Mr. BOYD. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 3108, the Uniting and Strengthening America Act. Since the attacks that devastated our Nation on September 11th, Congress has been working in a bipartisan fashion to develop the solutions to combating terrorism. I believe this bill provides the necessary solutions to one of the greatest challenges our country has ever faced. Congress and the President must work together to ensure that the necessary steps are taken in order to prevent terrorism from occurring on American soil and victimizing American citizens ever again. Providing federal law enforcement officials with the tools to fight the war on American is not only our civic responsibility, but our responsibility as American citizens. While expanding these powers, we must be mindful of protecting the civil liberties that every American enjoys, because these are the very freedoms that make this country great and for which scores of our forefathers have fought. This bill strikes the delicate balance between the two vital points of expanding power and protecting civil liberty. It is important to update current laws to reflect the technological changes the 21st century has brought about, including new methods of communication. Federal law enforcement officials must have the capacity to monitor terrorists who utilize relatively new technology to plan attacks on Americans throughout the world. These provisions are essential to ensuring victory in our war against terrorism. Additional items included in this bill expand law enforcement power through new types of electronic surveillance, increased foreign intelligence gathering, and immigration reforms that will keep us a step ahead of any potential act of terrorism against Americans. It is also important to note there are provisions in the bill to ensure our civil liberties are protected. Among these is the mandatory sunset of the intelligence gathering provisions after five years. This allows Congress to evaluate whether the new powers given to justice officials have been successful and have respected the civil rights of each and every American citizen. Again, Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the Uniting and Strengthening America Act and urge that this legislation be adopted.

Mr. BOYD

Mr. BOYD. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this resolution. I come here today in a sobering mood. This is a somber and solemn moment for our Nation. We are about to take an action which will put our Nation's finest in harm's way, but we know what we have to do to prevent additional loss of life and to protect our freedoms. Mr. Speaker, when I was carrying a rifle in the jungles of Vietnam, I prayed every day that never again would American young people have to go to a foreign soil to fight in combat. But we know what we must do to prevent additional loss of life and to protect our freedoms. Mr. Speaker, we are angry, but we must not react in anger. We must be calm. We must be patient. Our reaction must be measured, it must be calculated and responsible, and it will be effective. In our 225-year history, Mr. Speaker, thousands of Americans have given their lives to defend freedom. Each generation has learned that freedom is not free. There is something about America that these thugs do not understand, but they will understand when we complete our mission. May God grant wisdom to the President of the United States and may he grant his protection and blessing to the young, great Americans that have to carry out this mission.

Mr. BOYD

Mr. BOYD. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.J.Res. 61. Mr. Speaker, yesterday, our great nation suffered its greatest tragedy of a single day since the Civil War. I join all other Americans who are shocked and outraged by the terrorist hijackings and attacks on the World Trade Center and on the Pentagon. With this attack, the United States has entered a new era. We have been thrust into a new type of conflict and face an implacable enemy who will not hesitate to destroy innocent life. CIA Director George Tenet has said in testimony before Congress that terrorist attacks are imminent. It is impossible to predict with certainty where or when terrorists might strike again. But this incomprehensible tragedy is a terrible reminder that we must take the threat of terrorism seriously. Let there be no mistake--the U.S. Government will investigate, pursue, and seek convictions of the criminals who were behind this cowardly attack. These terrorist attacks were truly acts of war, and we will respond forcefully and appropriately. The United States will take action against the terrorists and punish the governments that support and harbor such criminals. We must pull together as a country to grieve for all those we have lost, to care for all those who were injured and support all those families who have been affected by this tragedy. We must pull together as one people to protect our nation and our way of life. America must lead the civilized world in a relentless campaign to root out and defeat terrorists and terrorist states. As we mourn the tragic loss of life, the United States must remain resolute. Our friends and our enemies alike must be made to understand that we will not be deterred from the defense of our interests nor shrink from our responsibilities. This tragedy calls for the certain and severe punishment of those responsible and requires a commitment by Americans to address our vulnerabilities. We must understand that the struggle now upon us may be long and difficult. Yet, America has always prevailed against her enemies and will do so again. Those of us who have the honor of serving our Nation in these hallowed halls of Congress have a very difficult job to carry out. We must always maintain the magnificence of our Constitution while moving forward with the legislative challenge of balancing the need for additional security versus our God given rights and the rule of law. I believe that our Government has never before been faced with a larger challenge than the preservation of the ideals of this Nation, while still addressing the future. But that is not enough. We must resolve to fight back against these insane acts by committing the country's full resources in an aggressive effort to determine who is responsible, to see that justice is done, and to do everything possible to deter such acts in the future. As former Navy Secretary Richard Danzig pointed out, our memory is long and our reach is longer. I extend my deepest sympathies to the families of the victims, while expressing my gratitude to all of the emergency and law enforcement personnel and other volunteers, many of whom have lost their lives to help with our emergency response efforts. I urge my colleagues strong support of this important resolution.

Mr. BOYD

Mr. BOYD. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 326, H.R. 219, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``no''.

Mr. BOYD

Mr. BOYD. Mr. Speaker, I offer a motion to recommit.

Mr. BOYD. I am, in its current form, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. BOYD. Mr. Speaker, I know that Members of this House feel very strongly about keeping commitments that they and this Government makes to its citizens. That is why I am asking the House to recommit this bill to the committee for the purposes of adding $500 million to the Veterans Administration medical programs. Mr. Speaker, this is the amount above the funding level contained in this bill that was unanimously recommended by the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs to the Committee on the Budget for the purposes of meeting the obligations and the commitment that we have and we have provided in the authorizing bills for our veterans. Mr. Speaker, I think all of us in this House have the greatest respect for the two gentlemen who lead this subcommittee, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Walsh) and the gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. Mollohan). I do not think there is any doubt about that. I think we also have a great deal of respect for the gentlemen who lead the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) and the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Evans) and the previous chairman of that committee, the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Stump). Mr. Speaker, the additional funds that we are asking for in this motion will not be used to provide additional services or new services to our Nation's veterans. These funds, Mr. Speaker, are simply required to provide the services that are already authorized, they are already committed, and they are already promised to our veterans. But they will not be provided at the funding levels contained in this appropriations bill. This motion, Mr. Speaker, is really about whether we want to stand behind our commitments to our citizens or whether we are willing to make promises in one bill, that is, the Veterans' Affairs authorization, and then when it comes time to pay for those services we are going to say to those folks, Well, we didn't really mean it. It was just all for show. I do not think that is right. Currently, Mr. Speaker, there are more than 3.6 million veterans who use the VA health care system. As a group, these people are much older than the average American and their health needs are much greater. The gentleman from New York (Mr. Walsh) has made a real effort to address the problem of the rising cost of providing health care to these individuals. But the 4.9 percent increase contained in this bill is about half of the increase required to meet the national average rate of increase in health expenditures. The number of physicians now employed by the Veterans Administration is simply not adequate to meet the needs of those eligible for VA medical services. The time it takes to see a doctor is already too long; and if we do not act, it will grow longer. It is an unfortunate fact, Mr. Speaker, but it is a fact that a significant number of those who have served in uniform suffer from chronic mental disorders and that we are simply not providing adequate mental health services to a significant number of these individuals. While we have also promised to cover pharmacy costs, this appropriation does not provide enough money to fully meet that promise. We will also not be meeting our commitments with respect to veterans in need of long-term care or veterans in need of emergency medical services. In a letter dated July 16, 2001, the major veterans service organizations stated that the funding levels in this bill ``are simply inadequate to meet the needs of the sick and disabled veterans at a time of skyrocketing health care costs and rising demand from an aging veterans population.'' Mr. Speaker, it is time for this Congress and this Nation to meet the commitments that it has made to the veterans, to the folks who have served in the uniform of this Nation. Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues tonight to send this bill back and add these additional needed funds.

Mr. BOYD. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. BOYD

Mr. BOYD. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Bonilla) for yielding me this time. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment of the gentleman from California (Mr. Royce). Mr. Chairman, as we continue to open our borders and expand trade, we continue to put our own small producers at a disadvantage because of the increased pressure from other countries that are heavily subsidizing. This is one program, one program, that is really working well to enable some of our smaller producers and processors to gain access in the foreign markets. Now, the gentleman from California talked about the GAO study but I want to say, Mr. Chairman, the GAO study did not go to Florida where we have used the program very successfully in the citrus and grapefruit industry. We do a 100 percent match of the Federal funds and since the inception of this program we have increased the grapefruit exports from $40 million to $190 million. I strongly suggest that we vote down this amendment.

Mr. BOYD

Mr. BOYD. Mr. Chairman, I want to thank the gentlewoman from Ohio for yielding me this time. I want to commend the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Bonilla), my chairman, and the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur), my ranking member, and their staff for their good work they have done on this bill. Is it perfect? No, it is not perfect, but few things are. I believe this bill is as fair and as balanced a bill as is possible given the 302(b) allocations that we are working with. The committee has produced a bill that is less than the committee appropriated last year but slightly more than the President requested for discretionary spending. We provide an additional $60 million for the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, that is APHIS, which is responsible for conducting inspections and quarantine activities to protect animals and plants from disease and pests. Personally, I believe we need to invest even more resources in this area. As we continue to enter trade agreements, making our borders more vulnerable to pests and diseases, and more and more people are traveling to and from our country, we put our farmers in a vulnerable situation. Many of my colleagues have heard me talk about Citrus Canker in Florida time and again. In 1995, it was reintroduced through the Miami Airport and has now spread throughout the urban areas into the commercial groves and is threatening a $9 billion industry, a $9 billion industry, in Florida. We are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to fight this disease. If it is not eradicated, it could spread to other citrus States like Texas and California. It just makes more sense to invest the resources on the front end to make sure we are able to stop it at the borders. Also, the threat of hoof and mouth disease entering our country is very real. We need to make sure APHIS has the resources to keep this terrible disease from spreading through our country. The bill also provides an additional $75 million for ag research, which is of utmost importance to our farmers and consumers and to all the Nation. More and more we see soil and water conservation linking groups that never before could seem to agree on anything. I am pleased that this is an area that the committee recognizes as being critical and has provided an additional $70 million over last year for a total of $783 million for conservation operations. There is additional funding for rural housing and development, programs that are important to all of rural America. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to rise in support of this bill and encourage my colleagues to support the bill also.

Mr. BOYD

Mr. BOYD. Mr. Speaker, throughout history, the bravery and dedication demonstrated by soldiers has long been remembered. As a veteran of the Vietnam War, I wanted to take the time to recognize important, yet often forgotten, heroes of the United States of America. As you may know, dogs have gone through combat at the side of their masters or have been used in direct support of combat operations throughout the history of warfare. The Army Quartermasters Corps began the U.S. Armed Forces first war dog training during WW II and continued to employ trained dogs in Korea. In Vietnam, the U.S. Army was the largest employer of War Dogs of all the services and used Sentry, Scout, Tracker, Mine and Tunnel dogs. During my service in Vietnam as a rifle platoon leader in the 101st Airborne Division, I had many opportunities to work with these dogs and their handlers. More specifically, my unit was in service with the 48th Infantry Scout Dog Platoon during the Lam Son campaign in March of 1971. These dogs were an integral part of our forces. They were trained to work in silence, provided early warnings of snipers, ambushes, mines, booby traps, and other dangers in the surrounding area. Scout Dog Teams were normally first in line when on patrol; our eyes and ears, our first line of protection. Although thousands of dogs have participated in the line of duty with American troops, they also provided a unique sense of comfort and protection for soldiers who were wounded or in need of assistance. Fiercely loyal to handlers and fellow troops, the military recognized the contributions and impact dogs had on war efforts. While there are ample examples of heroism displayed by these selfless canine combatants, I can recall one specific instance that demonstrates the relationship between the dogs and soldiers. On patrol one afternoon, the scout dog and his handler assigned to my group met with some trouble. The handler was seriously injured and needed to be medevaced out for immediate medical assistance. Attesting to the strength of the bond between dog and human, the handler expressed concern that the dog, who had been trained not to leave his side, would become uncontrollable without him. When the helicopter arrived it could not land and it had to lower a basket through the trees. When the soldier was being placed into the basket however, the dog incredibly followed. We watched with a strange mixture of sadness and relief as the pair was lifted to safety together. While these four legged heroes are unable to share their war stories with the American people, as a veteran that has personally experienced the positive impact of canine combatants, I want to share with you their glory, hardships, danger, and successes that are a touching yet significant aspect of American history.

Mr. BOYD

Mr. BOYD. Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably delayed on rollcall vote 114. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall vote 114.

Mr. BOYD

Mr. BOYD. Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably delayed on Roll Call vote 50. Had I been present, I would have voted yea on Roll Call vote 50.

Mr. BOYD

Mr. BOYD. Mr. Chairman, I want to thank the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Stenholm) for yielding me this time, and I want to thank the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Nussle) and the leadership team for allowing us to have this debate on the Blue Dog budget. We have had many discussions with leaders here in Washington, including the President and the Vice President; and often the comment comes up, Mr. Chairman, that if we leave the money in Washington, they will just spend it. I think many of us in this country understand why some of us are leery of that and some of us have that feeling. So what we have suggested, Mr. Chairman, to the President and to others is that we will work with our colleagues to put reasonable spending caps in place. This budget, Mr. Chairman, provides for an average of 3.5 percent spending growth, discretionary spending growth, 3.5 percent. That is very, very reasonable. So, Mr. Chairman, I would encourage my colleagues strongly, all of the Members of this body, to look at this budget and the way it treats spending restraints.

Mr. BOYD

Mr. BOYD. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the dedicated work of one of my constituents, Mr. Robert May of Old Town, Florida who has been awarded the Charles P. Ulmer award by the Sons of Confederate Veterans. The Ulmer award recognizes individuals who have worked to honor the memory of those who died serving their country. Robert May has done that and more. He currently serves as a leader within the organization and is actively involved in his community. I commend Robert May for his dedication and commitment to preserving the rich heritage of the South. The Charles P. Ulmer Award was named for a man who bravely fought in many famous battles during the Civil War, including the battles of Vicksburg, Chattanooga, Perryville, and Murfreesboro. As it's told, on November 25, 1863, during the battle of Missionary Ridge, Corporal Charles P. Ulmer put honor before fear when he picked up the flag from a fallen soldier and charged forward. He served his country proudly as he, too, fell answering the call of duty. The Sons of Confederate Veterans' ``Charles Ulmer Compatriot of the Year Award'' is awarded to that person who exemplifies the dedication and duty to country that Mr. Ulmer had shown so long ago, and Robert May is that person. Mr. Speaker, I join Robert May's family and friends in congratulating him on receiving the ``Charles Ulmer Compatriot of the Year Award.''

Mr. BOYD

Mr. BOYD. Mr. Speaker, today we are going to set the course for the nation for the next decade. The President is betting the farm on a two trillion tax cut based on ten year economic projections. I would like to talk to my colleagues a little bit about these projections. As we all know, these projections are prepared twice a year by the Congressional Budget Office, once in January and once in July. In six short months the Congressional Budget Office changed its ten year estimate of the surplus by one trillion dollars. While this is very good news for those who want the largest possible tax cuts or new spending programs based on the surplus, it troubles me greatly that we are prepared to risk the balanced budgets we have enjoyed over the last four years on estimates which can change so drastically in a six month time frame. My concern is that what the Congressional Budget Office gives today, it can take away tomorrow. If you look closer at the projections, it becomes even more problematic. Almost 70% of the 5.6 trillion dollar surplus does not materialize until after 2006. What will the economy look like in 2006? What problems will face our nation in 2006 that need to be addressed? Will the 505 billion dollar surplus that is estimated for 2006 really be there? Saying this is a certainty is like predicting what the weather will be like five years from now. Allocating the vast majority of the non Social Security surplus for a tax cut in this situation is like betting the family farm on a roll of the dice. Even the Congressional Budget Office warns about using its estimates, the same report that projects a 5.6 trillion dollar budget surplus also states, ``The longer-term outlook is also unusually hard to discern at present. Many commentators believe that major structural changes have created a ``new economy,'' and that belief influences the economic projections described in Chapter 2. However, CBO's projections, like those of other forecasters, are based on very limited information about just a few years' increased growth of productivity and strong investment in information technology. Projections of those recent changes as far as five or 10 years into the future are highly uncertain.'' This is why I believe it is important that we treat the projected surplus as a projection, not reality. A possibility, not a guarantee. Because of the uncertainty surrounding the projected surplus, I have promoted a responsible plan developed by the Blue Dog Coalition. Under our budget proposal, 50% of the projected non-Social Security surplus is set aside for debt reduction, 25% is set aside for tax cuts, and 25% is set aside for priority spending like education reform, strengthening our national defense, and a medicare prescription drug plan. This plan puts the emphasis where it should be--on paying down our nation's 5.7 trillion dollar national debt. It also has the added advantage of a cushion if the surpluses do not materialize. 50% of the projected surplus is not allocated to new spending programs or tax cuts, if the Congressional Budget Office is wrong, then the worse thing that can happen is that we would have not reduced the debt by the amount expected. In contrast, under the President's and Republican Leadership's plan, if the Congressional Budget Office is wrong, then we will very quickly have to use the Social Security and Medicare surplus to pay for the tax cuts we enact today. My colleagues, we are gambling with our future and our children's future today. What the Republican leadership is forcing upon us is wrong. No family or small business owner that I know would spend a huge chunk of his money without knowing what their budget would be first. I urge you to reject this risky plan and work with the Blue Dogs to develop a budget first, which honestly addresses all of our common priorities and will provide the largest tax cut we can afford. By developing a budget that balances substantial tax cuts with realistic spending levels and a serious commitment to paying down the national debt, we will be ensuring a strong economic future for our country and our children.

Mr. BOYD

Mr. BOYD. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. BOYD. I thank the gentleman from Michigan for yielding. Mr. Speaker, not to belabor the point, but I want to make a quick point that maybe has not been made. That is, that there are many on this side of the aisle that happen to agree with the President and many of the initiatives that he laid out in his speech on Tuesday evening and also in his budget he has presented, including strengthening our defense, including improving our educational system, including writing and implementing a prescription drug program, including helping assisting our veterans on their health care needs, including agricultural baseline needs that we know will exist, and also including his position on demeanor and the way he deals with people in a bipartisan way. It is refreshing. I know many of us on this side of the aisle have had many meetings with him since he has become President, including this Member, and with his staff to work on these issues. I would simply say to the majority leader that I believe that most responsible people would think that it would be the proper thing to do to develop the budget, that is what the regular order of the rules of the House call for, prior to picking out a very small portion of that financial plan to pass which may seriously affect the way you do the other part. That is the only thing that I would say to the distinguished gentleman from Texas. There are a group of us that feel very strongly about that.

Mr. BOYD

Mr. BOYD. Mr. Speaker, the month of February is known as ``Black History Month.'' It celebrates, not only the black race, but also the spirit and contributions of African-American culture. The beauty and strength of America is rooted in her people. Each ethnicity contributes to the diverse patchwork that is our nation. I find it particularly important that we recognize the history of black Americans during the month of February. From the egregious stories of abduction that brought so many ancestors to this nation, to Jackie Robinson tearing down the barriers of color in Major League Baseball, the story of black America, with its' highs and lows, is one that should be revived and remembered. As Black History Month in the year 2001 comes to a close, I embrace the future with a stronger knowledge of the past and look forward to the day Dr. Martin Luther King dreamed of ``when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to Join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, `Free at last! Free at last! Thank God almighty, we are free at last!' ''

Mr. BOYD

Mr. BOYD. Mr. Speaker, it is a real pleasure to be here today to talk about something I think that is critically important to the future of this country. I want us to look, if we will, deep into the 21st century, and I think we start that by looking back historically and seeing where we have come from. I want to talk a little bit about the economic future of this country. Mr. Speaker, after all, as a government, the people of this country expect us to be an economic model, to provide a structure, an economic structure, that will enable the private sector to flourish. It has worked as well, Mr. Speaker, as any plan that has been put together in the history of mankind. We have something here in this country that is very special. This economic model, this experiment we are on now for over 225 years, has taken us to be the most powerful Nation in the world, not only economically, but also militarily and politically. Let us look back, Mr. Speaker, just a few short years, back into 1990. We just came out of the decade of the '80s. Ronald Reagan had served us 8 years wonderfully as our President. He had spent a lot of his time focusing on the Soviet Union and the Cold War, and actually we saw the fall of the Soviet Union in the late decade of the '80s. But if you looked at what was happening fiscally in our country, Mr. Speaker, at that time, we were in pretty bad shape. Economically we were headed down the wrong path. If you go back to 1990, you would have found annual deficits in the range of $250 to $300 billion a year. You had a mounting debt that was climbing a quarter of a trillion dollars annually. Many of us who were in the private sector at that time thought that the economic experiment that we were involved in in this country was headed for an economic disaster as we moved toward the 21st century. But as you know, in 1990, with the leadership of President Bush, the first step was taken to change the economic direction of this country. As a matter of fact, those changes, led by President Bush, probably cost him his reelection in 1992. Then again in 1993, under the leadership of President Clinton, another big step was taken to sort of build the wall around that foundation that President Bush had built to get us headed back in the right direction. With that economic plan in 1993, this government, this economic model that we are involved in here, began to head in the right direction and lower its deficits and head toward a day where we could actually pay our bills on an annual basis and would not be swallowed with red ink. I know when I ran for Congress in 1996 it was the major campaign theme. The major campaign theme was balancing the budget, removing the deficits, the annual deficits that we had. So this is not something that is new, not something we just started talking about. This is important stuff for the long-term health of this country. Under the leadership of the House and the Senate, Speaker Gingrich, Majority Leader Lott in the Senate, and President Clinton, in 1997 a Balanced Budget Act was put into place, put into law, which was a plan, a blueprint, to lead us out of red ink and lead us into an era when we could actually pay our bills. This model we have is so wonderful that we actually achieved that goal of getting away from deficits about 5 years ahead of that schedule. The 1997 Balanced Budget Act had us balancing the budget in, I think, the year 2003-2004, but we actually achieve that about 3 or 4 years ahead of that schedule. We have a wonderful window of opportunity here now to continue the work, to continue the job. Mr. Speaker, the budget process is like a business plan. It is like a business plan that our businesses all across this Nation do on an annual basis. They sit down and they look at what kind of business they want to do, what their objectives are, what parts of their business they have to fund, what revenue they can expect to come in, and then they put all that together in a budget and then they go out and implement it. Mr. Speaker, that business plan allocates, in the case of our Federal Government, limited Federal resources to our priorities that we think are important. Mr. Speaker, the surplus is currently projected at $2.7 trillion. That is if we do not use Social Security and Medicare. We all know the CBO, Mr. Speaker, which I have a summary here which we want to examine a little bit closer as we spend some time in this next hour, the CBO report talks about a $5.6 trillion figure over the next 10 years, and that is true; but we know that of that $5.6 trillion, that about half of it is money that comes into the Social Security trust fund and the Medicare Trust Fund. So we really ought to all get on the same page and talk about the current surplus, the projected surplus, Mr. Speaker, being at $2.7 trillion, because even just as late as yesterday this House voted, I think unanimously, to reinsert its belief that the Social Security funds and the Medicare funds ought to go in a lockbox, and they ought not to be touched for any purpose, other than those two specific purposes. So, Mr. Speaker, we want to spend the next hour examining some of the priorities that this Nation needs to deal with as we have this debate about surpluses, about tax cuts and about our economic plan. Mr. Speaker, at this time I am glad to recognize the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Stenholm) to spend a few minutes talking about his perspective.

Mr. BOYD. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend, the gentleman from Texas, who has been in this Congress a long time and is recognized as probably the major deficit hawk in Congress. I know that he is very pleased that we have come so far with the 1997 Balanced Budget Act, and I know that he is somewhat pained by the fact that we may be reversing that policy with really good spending caps in place. I say to the gentleman from Texas, the 1997 Balanced Budget Act did put into place some very good spending caps. Those have expired I think as of this year. I really believe that it may be time for Congress to look again at what worked for us in 1997 and has really helped us tremendously, and hopefully we would take another step on the spending side to make sure that we do not let spending run out of control again.

Mr. BOYD. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from Washington for joining with us here on the floor, and we certainly do want to make him an honorary Blue Dog. Mr. Speaker, I would like to yield now to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Stenholm) to summarize.