Henry Hyde

Mr. HYDE

Mr. HYDE. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from Ohio [Mr Ney].

Mr. HYDE. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Delaware [Mr. Castle].

Mr. HYDE

Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for the 1 minute and I congratulate him for this resolution. I would just suggest to my friends who think this is a waste of time and the equivalent of a commemorative resolution, that they vote ``no.'' They put their money where their mouth is and vote ``no'' on this and send a message that they are intellectually honest. You are not going to condemn it as a nothing and then vote for it, surely. As far as I am concerned, I am going to vote for it, because it is in writing and when I vote that is my signature to the writing that says we are not going to touch Social Security. That is a solemn promise. It is an undertaking of mine that I would recommend my next opponent or the next six of them call me to account on if I break my word. This is something. This is a statement of policy for all of those who sign it and for those who sign, know, it is a statement of their policy.

Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, I just have a higher regard for the gentlewoman's vote than perhaps the gentlewoman does herself. When you vote for this, you are making a statement you are not going to touch Social Security. I believe you. I believe you.

Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, will the gentlewoman yield?

Mr. HYDE

Mr. HYDE. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Hoke].

Mr. HYDE. Mr. Chairman, I move that the Committee do now rise.

Mr. HYDE. Mr. Chairman, it is clear, judging from the minority party's reactions, that our quest to achieve a balanced budget has already encountered fierce resistance. This is evidenced by the cascade of amendments they have offered to the legislation barring unfunded mandates and to the balanced budget amendment itself. Why this lip service to the concept, Mr. Chairman, but genuine obstruction to the process? Mr. Chairman, as I was asking, why do the Democrats give lip service to these concepts of banning unfunded mandates and having a balanced budget amendment, but yet the process seems to be strewn with land mines? Mr. Chairman, I think, and this is just my personal opinion, they do not want a balanced budget amendment, despite what they say, nor do they want to forego unfunded mandates, because it is through their mandates and deficit spending that Government grows bigger and bigger and bigger. The minority party has a long-standing romance with big Government, and unfunded mandates and deficit spending are the flowers and the candy they keep bestowing on their beloved. Why do we need a balanced budget amendment? The current statistics, the figures, the money, are both inescapable and staggering. Federal debt is now $4.7 trillion and growing; the 1995 deficit, $176 billion, and by the year 2005 the deficit will be, if current expenditure rates continue, $421 billion. As a matter of fact, Mr. Chairman, the Federal Government has run deficits in 33 of the last 34 years. Mr. Chairman, interest on the national debt is 14 percent of Federal spending. It is the third largest item in the budget after Social Security and defense. It now totals $235 billion, and next year debt service will jump to $260 billion. By the year 2000 it will be $310 billion and still counting, and still mounting. Foreign creditors now own 20 percent of our debt. That is the reality lurking behind this romance with ever-bigger Government that seems to consume the Democrats. The balanced budget amendment is much more than a mere symbol. It would establish a binding, legal framework, a disciplined structure requiring Congress to make the tough choices with a bias toward cutting spending, not increasing the debt and not increasing taxes. In 1982, I wrote an op-ed piece expressing skepticism about a balanced budget amendment. Thirteen years later, that skepticism has dissipated. I am convinced nothing is going to work short of a balanced budget amendment. To date we have rejected all serious efforts to hold back this tidal wave of red ink that threatens to inundate us all. In the past 10 years, three major legislative efforts have sought to reverse our chronic deficit pattern. Two of them have failed and the third is destined to do so. I am convinced only a long-term permanent legal commitment provided by a constitutional amendment will harness a runaway Congress in pursuit of a balanced budget amendment. In short, this amendment is essential to force Congress to make the kind of difficult choices it has evaded for years. It is a last gasp of a fiscal policy suffocating from overspending. The balanced budget amendment is a procedural enforcement tool. It is not a detailed plan. Much has been made about the failure of our amendment to specify where the cuts are going to come and when they will be made. I suggest that a constitutional amendment should never include a laundry list of spending cuts. It is a statement of general principles, not an inventory of details. It is irresponsible for balanced budget amendment critics to demand in a single legislative vehicle a specific balanced budget plan covering the next 7 years as a precondition for passing the amendment. Making complete and accurate spending and revenue projections covering the entire 7-year timeframe is impossible at this time and they know it. It would be the sheerest speculation and more misleading then informative. As George Will has said, ``The Constitution stipulates destinations. It doesn't draw detailed maps.'' This year as part of the annual budget process, Congress will begin to identify what specific cuts need to be made between now and 2002. Passing the balanced budget amendment will give Congress the opportunity to reexamine virtually every function of Government. Like the base closing commission, it will impose a systematic reform that will force elected officials to make those tough decisions. The result will be what the voters said they want, a smaller, less intrusive Government and more power to reside where it belongs, with the States, with local communities, and with American families. The long-neglected 10th amendment will be resuscitated and so will our economy. What we need to do is to convince America that we will make the cuts and that we have the will to make the cuts necessary to bring the budget into balance. That was the clear signal of November 8 last year. We have heard so much about Social Security and we have heard it from the party that has taxed Social Security in the last budget, taxed the Social Security benefits that they so cavalierly refer to as sacred. It seems to me that was a violation of sanctity, but nonetheless, that is their problem. Social Security is off-limits. It is not on the table. The Republican Party, the Republican leadership has made it clear that Social Security will not be cut. The budget can be balanced by the year 2002 without touching Social Security. One of my authorities for that is the distinguished gentleman from Texas and a fine Democrat named Charles Stenholm. It should be noted that a balanced budget amendment will provide greater protection for each American's investment in Social Security because by balancing the budget, no additional Government bonds will have to be issued to finance the deficit. Thus, there will be no more borrowing from the trust fund which truly protects the future of our Nation's retirees. In contrast, if there is no amendment, starting in the year 2013, the Federal Government will have to begin paying back from general revenues the trillions it will have borrowed by then from the trust funds. Congress will then have to face the inevitable task of raising payroll taxes and/or reducing benefits. The Contract With America clearly supports senior citizens. It helps seniors in several ways. It raises the Social Security earnings limit to $30,000 over 5 years. It repeals the onerous Clinton/Democrat tax increases on Social Security retirees. It provides a $500 elder care tax credit and tax incentives to help individuals purchase private long-term care insurance. Not only will the balanced budget amendment protect our seniors but it will protect our children and their children as well. We steal from them by thrusting the metastasizing Federal debt on their shoulders. We will continue to commit generational larceny if we fail to reduce the debt. It can only be done with the help of a balanced budget amendment. One of the most interesting lines last night in the President's State of the Union speech was this: ``None of us can change our yesterdays, but all of us can change tomorrows.'' Well we better be careful how we change tomorrows, exacerbating it. If we do not have a balanced budget amendment, you know what is going to happen and it is no present our grandchildren or future generations. Slowing the rate of growth of spending is the answer. Under current policies, spending will increase by 5.4-percent annually over the next 7 years and total spending during that period amounts to $13 trillion. We can balance the budget by 2002 if we hold spending growth to about 3-percent annually. If we do not act, what is going to happen? The longer we put this off, the tougher it gets. Where will we find the money for essential Government services and programs when the debt service grows to 30 percent or 40 percent of Federal spending? How will the private sector finance business startups, job creation, with debt service eating up almost half of the private investment funds generated each year? What will we do when the foreigners close their checkbooks? The American taxpayer deserves and demands relief. We need bold action to regain the confidence of the investment community here and abroad. More dollars will be available to the private sector. Savings rates will increase. Interest rates will be lower. Capital investment will be encouraged. More jobs available for more Americans. If the last election did not convert you, perhaps you are beyond redemption. But to the rest I say, seize the day, and now is the day. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. HYDE

Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to clause 2(a) of rule XI of the Rules of the House, I submit for publication in the Congressional Record, the Rules of Procedure for the 104th Congress adopted by the House Committee on the Judiciary on January 5, 1995. U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on the Judiciary, Rules of Procedure, One Hundred Fourth Congress, Adopted January 5, 1995 rule i The Rules of the House of Representatives are the rules of the Committee on the Judiciary and its subcommittees with the following specific additions thereto. rule ii. committee meetings (a) The regular meeting day of the Committee on the Judiciary for the conduct of its business shall be on Tuesday of each week while the House is in session. (b) Alternative meeting dates and additional meetings may be called by the Chairman and a regular meeting of the Committee may be dispensed with when, in the judgment of the Chairman, there is no need therefor. (c) At least 24 hours (excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays when the House is not in session) before each scheduled Committee or subcommittee meeting, each Member of the Committee or subcommittee shall be furnished a list of the bill(s) and subject(s) to be considered and/or acted upon at the meeting. Bills or subjects not listed shall be subject to a point of order unless their consideration is agreed to by a two-thirds vote of the Committee or subcommittee. (d) The Chairman, with such notice to the ranking Minority Member as is practicable, may call and convene, as he considers necessary, additional meetings of the Committee for the consideration of any bill or resolution pending before the Committee or for the conduct of other Committee business. The Committee shall meet for such purpose pursuant to that call of the Chairman. (e) Committee and subcommittee meetings for the transaction of business shall be open to the public except when the Committee or subcommittee determines by majority vote to close the meeting because disclosure of matters to be considered would endanger national security, would compromise sensitive law enforcement information, or would tend to defame, degrade or incriminate any person or otherwise would violate any law or rule of the House. (f) Every motion made to the Committee and entertained by the Chairman shall be reduced to writing upon demand of any Member, and a copy made available to each Member present. (g) For purposes of taking any action at a meeting of the full Committee or any subcommittee thereof, other than taking testimony or receiving evidence, a quorum shall be constituted by the presence of not less than one-third of the Members of the Committee or subcommittee, except that a full majority of the Members of the Committee or subcommittee shall constitute a quorum for purposes of reporting a measure or recommendation from the Committee or subcommittee, closing a meeting to the public, or authorizing the issuance of a subpoena. (h) A complete transcript shall be made of any full Committee meetings, or any portion thereof, upon the request of any Member of the Committee made before the close of business of the preceding day, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays when the House is not in session. rule iii. hearings (a) The Committee or any subcommittee shall make public announcement of the date, place and subject matter of any hearing to be conducted by it on any measure or matter at least one week before the commencement of that hearing, unless the Committee or subcommittee before which such hearing is scheduled determines that there is good cause to begin such hearing at an earlier date, in which event it shall make public announcement at the earliest possible date. (b) Committee and subcommittee hearings shall be open to the public except when the Committee or subcommittee determines by majority vote to close the meeting because disclosure of matters to be considered would endanger national security, would compromise sensitive law enforcement information, or would tend to defame, degrade or incriminate any person or otherwise would violate any law or rule of the House. (c) For purposes of taking testimony and receiving evidence before the Committee or any subcommittee, a quorum shall be constituted by the presence of two Members. (d) In the course of any hearing each Member shall be allowed five minutes for the interrogation of a witness until such time as each Member who so desires has had an opportunity to question the witness. rule iv. broadcasting Any meeting or hearing of the Committee or any of its subcommittees that is open to the public shall be open to coverage by television, radio, and still photography in accordance with the provisions of clause 3 of House rule XI. rule v. standing subcommittees (a) The full Committee shall have jurisdiction over the following subject matters: antitrust, tort liability issues, including medical malpractice and product liability, and such other legislative or oversight matters as determined by the Chairman. (b) There shall be five standing subcommittees of the Committee on the Judiciary, with jurisdictions as follows: (1) Subcommittee on Courts and Intellectual Property: copyright, patent and trademark law, administration of U.S. courts, Federal Rules of Evidence, Civil and Appellate Procedure, judicial ethics, other appropriate matters as referred by the Chairman, and relevant oversight. (2) Subcommittee on the Constitution: constitutional amendments, constitutional rights, federal civil rights laws, ethics in government, other appropriate matters as referred by the Chairman, and relevant oversight. (3) Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law: bankruptcy and commercial law, bankruptcy judgeships, administrative law, state taxation affecting interstate commerce, interstate compacts, other appropriate matters as referred by the Chairman, and relevant oversight. (4) Subcommittee on Crime: Federal Criminal Code, drug enforcement, sentencing, parole and pardons, Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, prisons, other appropriate matters as referred by the Chairman, and relevant oversight. (5) Subcommittee on Immigration and Claims: immigration and naturalization, admission of refugees, treaties, conventions and international agreements, claims against the United States, federal charters of incorporation private immigration and claims bills, other appropriate matters as referred by the Chairman, and relevant oversight. (c) The Chairman of the Committee and the ranking Minority Member thereof shall be ex officio Members, but not voting Members, of each subcommittee to which such Chairman or ranking Minority has not been assigned by resolution of the Committee. Ex officio Members shall not be counted as present for purposes of constituting a quorum at any hearing or meeting of such subcommittee. rule vi. powers and duties of subcommittees Each subcommittee is authorized to meet, hold hearings, receive evidence, and report to the full Committee on all matters referred to it or under its jurisdiction. Subcommittee chairman shall set dates for hearings and meetings of their respective subcommittees after consultation with the Chairman and other subcommittee chairmen with a view toward avoiding simultaneous scheduling of full Committee and subcommittee meetings or hearings whenever possible. rule vii. non-legislative reports No report of the Committee or subcommittee which does not accompany a measure or matter for consideration by the House shall be published unless all Members of the Committee or subcommittee issuing the report shall have been apprised of such report and given the opportunity to give notice of intention to file supplemental, additional, or dissenting views as part of the report. In no case shall the time in which to file such views be less than three calendar days (excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays when the House is not in session). rule viii. committee records The records of the Committee at the National Archives and Records Administration shall be made available for public use according to the Rules of the House. The Chairman shall notify the ranking Minority Member of any decision to withhold a record otherwise available, and the matter shall be presented to the Committee for a determination on the written request of any Member of the Committee.