Jack Kingston

Mr. KINGSTON

Mr. KINGSTON. Being an expert on defense, one of the things we hear quite often is Americans under U.N. command. Last year, as I recall, we passed a bill that said Americans would not serve under U.N. command or wear U.N. uniforms. Was that vetoed?

Mr. KINGSTON

Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, because of inclement weather, I was unavoidably absent for votes today. If the plane could have landed at the scheduled time, I would have been present to vote ``yes'' on ordering the previous question on H.R. 3415, ``no'' on the motion to recommit on H.R. 3415, ``yes'' on final passage on H.R. 3415, and ``yes'' on House Concurrent Resolution 167.

Mr. KINGSTON

Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, it is the end of the week, and in that great American school yard tradition it is time for a pop quiz. This might be hard for those suffering from left-wing brain deficiency disorder, but let us give it a go anyhow. Which sum is greater, $190 or $304 billion? On the Republican side, $304 is greater than $190 billion. Now, if Mr. Kasich's budget increased Medicare spending from $190 to $304 billion, would he be doing, A, cutting Medicare; B, increasing Medicare; C, I am sorry, what was the question? The answer is, of course, Mr. Kasich's budget increases Medicare from $190 to $304 billion. It is an increase. Excellent job. A little quiet over here on this side. Student loans are increasing, Medicaid is increasing, Medicare is increasing under the Kasich budget. Yet we are going to hear over and over again cut, cut, cut. The only thing I would like for y'all to cut out today is the line. Let us be honest; both budgets increase the spending. Let us have a good dialog on this.

Mr. KINGSTON

Mr. KINGSTON. I could not report objectively on, let us say, my son or daughter if they were in elected office. I went to a school play this weekend. My daughter had a small role in it. I loved it. I tell you what, that was the most important role in the play. But all the other parents probably thought their child's role was just as important. That is the relationship that you have with the press and the liberal Washington status quo community. It is not an arms's length objective relationship. The press has totally lost credibility because they are so cozy with the liberal Democrats, and they are doing everything they can to keep Bill Clinton in office because they do not want to change the status quo.

Mr. KINGSTON. Increasing. So why do you suppose there are Members of the House who say increasing Medicare from $179 to $304 billion is a cut? Can you explain that? That is the discussion question.

Mr. KINGSTON. If we want to have a discussion, let us get on the concrete foundation that the figure $179 is smaller than the number $304, and remove from the discussion that Medicare is cut. Could we agree that $304 is bigger than $179?

Mr. KINGSTON. If the gentleman will yield, there is no question that this is the liberal Washington keep the status quo propaganda machine using the word cut. And the gentleman from New Jersey, who I respect, I think maybe it is a reflection of the New Jersey school system when he refers to going from $304 billion from $179 billion as a cut, where all the rest of the States across the country would call that an increase. Moving on, though, with his concern about hospitals, I am concerned about hospitals but only after I am concerned about patients and senior citizens. I think that the patients, you have to put the patients first. I am sorry about the hospital system in New Jersey, but again I am more concerned about the patients. My mother, as I believe your parents are, as well, is on Medicare. It is a 1964 Blue Cross/Blue Shield plan. I like the idea of mom having choices because I trust her and I trust other people's parents and their children's ability to choose what health care plan fits them best. Right now it is Medicare or Medicare, period. Under the proposal they would have a physicians service network as an option. They would have a managed care plan as an option. They would have traditional Medicare as an option. They would have medical savings accounts as an option. Mr. Speaker, all these are actuarially worked into the formula that increases the benefit from around $5,000 to $7,200. The numbers vary slightly, but the fact is that it does give more choices while cracking down on fraud and abuse. My dad lives in a condominium complex in Athens, GA, where there are a number of other seniors. My dad has macular degeneration, is legally blind, he has diabetes. But all the seniors in his complex work together and go over each other's bills, medical, food needs, and so forth. He says just about without exception when they go to the hospital for a head cold, they get billed for x rays or something just totally ridiculous. I do not think it is all fraud, but it is just a general sloppiness that Medicare is paying for it, so do not worry about it. We have got to crack down on that abuse because it is right out of our seniors' pockets. One other thing that the gentleman from New Jersey mentioned was this tax cut thing, and maybe we could just at this point agree that we disagree on Medicare. We want to save and protect it one way, and the President wants to keep patching it up another way until the next election. I think that it is important--and one of our great challenges, where he saves the program until 2008, we need to save it ad infinitum but at least get beyond the election cycle. I note with interest that one of the things about the Clinton budget is that 74 percent of the reductions, the deficit reductions in the overall budget come the last 2 years, which is 2 years after he is out of office if he was to be reelected. So here we have got the pain, as usual, coming later, whereas the Republican budget overall reduces spending and savings, consolidates the size of Government over a 6-year period of time. It is more fair and more equitable that way. Mr. Speaker, the thing, though, our profamily budget also calls for a tax credit of $500 per child for families under $110,000. I have always thought of New Jersey as having higher incomes than Georgia; $110,000, you can live well. But the fact is that is a combined income, and that still in many cases is very middle class. I would like to ask our friend from New Jersey when we talk about tax cuts for the wealthy, which I have heard him and many of his colleagues expound on over and over again, who are the wealthy that we are talking about in this budget that would benefit and maybe even why it is so bad to do anything for the wealthy. I would like to just throw that question out to the gentleman.

Mr. KINGSTON. Let me ask the gentleman this: Having been turned down getting time from you guys last Thursday when you controlled the time, would you, in the sense of fairness, make it a practice and tell your Democrat colleagues that Republicans do yield time and it would be very, very appreciative if Democrats would yield us time? Could you maybe take the lead on that, because I see there is some reluctance on your side.

Mr. KINGSTON. If you think about it, how many people do you know in your district in California have been able to provide for their family based on a 20-hour work week. I would be willing to bet zero. I asked this question of an audience in Georgia recently: How many of you pay for your kids, your house with 20 hours work a week? Nobody. Yet the President vetoed welfare reform because we required in the bill 20 hours worth of work each week for able-bodied recipients, 20 hours. That is all. But it was too much for the President. No tough love here. Veto, giveaway, giveaway, giveaway. That is all he seems to want to protect is the status quo giveaway system. We think he should have some tough love out there. Give a helping hand to those who need it. Give a little push, a living push to those who need that. But it is not fair to America's middle class to be shouldering the burden for those who could be working and contributing.

Mr. KINGSTON. If the gentleman will yield. Here we have a President who in 1992 did run on a middle-class tax cut. In fact, one of his ads said, ``Hi, I am Bill Clinton, I believe you deserve a change, that is why I have a plan to get the economy moving again, starting with a middle-class tax cut.'' And that ad ran from New Jersey to Iowa. Then, of course, when the middle-class tax cut package that Dole supported and worked to get out of the Senate, when it got to the White House Oval Office it was vetoed. Medicare. The President says let us save Medicare. Well, on a bipartisan basis we worked very hard to try to save, protect, and preserve Medicare. Bob Dole worked for it. When it got to Bill Clinton's desk, it was vetoed. On welfare reform the President promised to end welfare as we know it. Now, he may have promised to extend welfare as we know it. We were not sure. As we look back, that is exactly what has happened. But let us say he did say end welfare as we know it. We had a bipartisan welfare bill that just passed the Senate 87 to 12. I mean the Senate has been his biggest ally. Frankly, Republicans and Democrats alike in many respects. President Clinton has worked with the liberals over there to twist the system and throw a monkey wrench in the process and so forth, but Senator Dole worked very hard to get this major reform out, and got it out and it was vetoed again, even in bipartisan fashion. Product liability reform, something that American businesses need to keep their competitive edge internationally up. So important these days with NAFTA and GATT and so forth. Passed the Senate in a bipartisan fashion. Senator Dole worked for it, President Clinton vetoed it. And the balanced budget. Passed the House, bipartisan fashion. Passed the Senate. Senator Dole worked very hard to get it out of the Senate. Got to the White House and it was vetoed. Dead on arrival. So a major difference, between Bob Dole tax relief, Bob Dole saving Medicare, Bob Dole reforming welfare, Bob Dole balancing the budget, Bill Clinton vetoing tax relief, Bill Clinton vetoing Medicare reform, Bill Clinton vetoing welfare reform, Bill Clinton vetoing a balanced budget. You have a very clear choice. It is interesting that people say to us, why are you not getting the word out? I tell you one thing, a clue came out the other day: 92 percent of the press admitted to voting for Bill Clinton in 1992.

Mr. KINGSTON. A cut is not the issue at all. As a matter of fact, we just said, beyond a doubt, that if you, if I could point out----

Mr. KINGSTON. The gentleman does not want to talk about taxes?

Mr. KINGSTON. You are doing well so far. Question No. 2: If the House raised Medicare from $179 billion to $304 billion, would they be increasing Medicare, decreasing Medicare, or leaving it level?

Mr. KINGSTON. It is valuable if you believe in what you are saying. If you are saying stuff, as a couple of your colleagues were the other night about Newt Gingrich's statement regarding HCFA, and trying to imply that was a Medicare statement, which the people who were using that knew that to be a total lie on the House floor incidentally, I would say I would not want to yield the floor either if I was lying. But if I was truthing, I would yield the floor. I hope you will yield the floor and encourage your colleagues to yield the floor, not because of Republicans and Democrats, and one might look better than the other, but because we have problems in America. We all have parents and children and folks back home dependent on us. I read a statistic the other day that something like only 10,000 people in the history of the United States have served in Congress, and indeed there are only 435 of us right now. Folks curse Congress and kick Congress and laugh at politicians, rightly so, and yet they still depend on us to do this job, which is to work together and put the needs of American people and Government first, and not Republican or Democrat problems. I think it is always important to back up a step and remember what our job mission is and who our boss is.

Mr. KINGSTON. If the gentleman would yield.

Mr. KINGSTON. I would also like to join in this. The President's budget calls for 14 new Federal Government programs. What a way to end the era of big Government. He also has a tax increase in his budget that is only there until the year 2000. Again, conveniently, if the President were reelected, right when he gets out the tax cut, which he has $129 billion in tax cuts, I guess for the wealthy also, our colleague from the other side of the aisle did not define wealthy a minute ago, but the President calls for tax cuts, and then only temporarily. Once he gets out of office, the taxes go back up. And I would tell the gentleman that 15,800 new Federal employees are added to the rolls under the President and 451 to the Department of Labor. For the Secretary of Labor alone, 83 new positions. That is not ending the era of big government. There is a spending increase on 75 different programs, including a 248 percent increase for the EPA, 277 percent of the community development group, 66 percent for bilingual education, which, to me, that is a State issue not a Federal issue, but a 66 percent increase on it. This is a budget, as the gentleman and I have both pointed out, where all the savings are on the back end. It is a phony election year budget, and it is right on the wake where the President actually, on May 8, called for a 90-day freeze on politics. Right when he was doing an $11 million fund raiser, incidentally.

Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, even though there are only a few of us present now, I am going to pose a pop quiz to the House. The question is who made the following statement: Today, Medicaid and Medicare are going up at three times the rate of inflation. We propose to let it go up at two times the rate of inflation. That is not, I repeat, not a Medicare or Medicaid cut. And we have kept private sector increases so they won't go up as much. So only in Washington do people believe that no one can get by on twice the rate of inflation. So when you hear all this business about cuts, let me caution you, that is not what is going on. Now, who made those comments: President Clinton or Newt Gingrich, the Speaker of the House? If you guessed President Clinton, you were right. He made those comments on October 5, 1993. On May 16, 1995, more recently, he said, ``I believe we have to slow the growth of Medicare.'' Mr. Speaker, compare the comments of President Clinton to what you hear tonight on the House floor from people like the gentleman from New Jersey [Mr. Pallone]. Then think for a moment on this particular quote. This is a quote by the former Democrat Governor of Colorado, Gov. Richard Lamb, in Newsweek May 13, so just the other day: ``I am awed by his,'' referring to President Clinton, ``I am awed by his understanding of this insolvency of Medicare, which just makes his demagoguing worse. He knows what is happening, yet he is poisoning the well. Medicare is not as bad off as the Republicans said, it's must worse.'' So that is what we hear nightly out here during special orders, is Democrats demagoguing this issue and poisoning the well, and ruining any chance of a bipartisan proposal, a bipartisan solution to save Medicare from bankruptcy. Mr. Speaker, I will be happy to yield to the gentleman from New Jersey [Mr. Pallone], as well. I do want to continue in the vein of a pop quiz, since it is getting near the end of the school year, and since there are a lot of kids there, students who are picking up the brunt of this huge, massive debt. Let me give you a number. As of today, by the way, our debt is $5,092,815,215,000. To help senior citizens, to help the middle class, to help the young folks, we have to get our head out of the sand and say, OK, it is time to act like we do have a debt out there after all, and let us be responsible and work together in a bipartisan fashion and quit all this election year sniping, which apparently is so addictive and tempting these days. The pop quiz. I would say to the gentleman from California [Mr. Riggs], your final exam: Which number is larger, $179 billion, or $304 billion. Which one is larger?

Mr. KINGSTON

Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

Mr. KINGSTON

Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, one of the true benefits and best parts about serving in public office is getting to know so many people. The constituents in Georgia's First Congressional district are an outstanding example of great Americans who have made this Nation the wonderful country that it is. One of the examples is Mr. Babe Davis. He's a friend of mine, a Georgia hero, and truly a great American. In 1940, Woodrow Wilson ``Babe'' Davis, a resident of Odum, GA, gave up professional baseball, but to this day, baseball fans haven't forgotten about him. In the late 1930's, Davis pitched to Lou Gehrig and Joe DiMaggio, yet in 1996, he still receives up to 5 or 6 autograph requests a week. Davis says he got his start in baseball by throwing sticks and corn cobs as a small child. When he was in grade school he would always carry his glove and a ball and bat with him wherever he went. One teacher commented that she saw him carrying his gear so much that she was going to start calling him ``Babe'' after Babe Ruth. She did and the name stuck. Davis received a baseball scholarship to attend Brewton-Parker Institute before he had completed the 11th grade and following his success pitching at Nicholls High School. He struck out 23 batters in one game at Brewton-Parker. Davis signed his first professional contract with the Cleveland Indians in 1934, making $250 per month for their farm team. During his 7-year professional baseball career, the Cincinnati Redlegs and the Toronto Maple Leafs picked up his contract. Davis' career began to wind down when he injured his arm during a one-hitter he pitched for Toronto against Rochester in 1937. After playing for teams in Jacksonville, FL, and Valdosta, GA, Davis gave up the game for good. While starting another career with the Georgia Department of Revenue, Davis kept his love for the game alive. For the last 25 years, he has been spearheading ``Babe's Mighty Mites,'' a children's baseball instructional program that touches the lives of 320 youngsters in Odum. Babe Davis epitomizes the love and dedication of the people of the First District of Georgia. We are all proud to have him as a neighbor and a friend. He crossed paths with some of baseball's all-time greats. And while his professional baseball career may have been short-lived, Davis' enthusiasm for the sport has not. Just ask 320 children in Odum, GA.

Mr. KINGSTON

Mr. KINGSTON. Did the gentleman find some time now to yield, now that we are yielding?

Mr. KINGSTON

Mr. KINGSTON. Wait a minute. I want to make sure I understand. You are saying that May 8 was Tax Freedom Day and you are saying from January 1 to May 8, that all the income earned in that period of time went to the government? Is that what you are saying?

Mr. KINGSTON. Are those things passed into law or are they sitting over in the Senate?

Mr. KINGSTON. Well, what this editorial had to do with was when we introduced our plan to save and protect Medicare and the Democrats started demagoguing it through fear because, as Mrs. Seastrand said, they had no plan of their own. So what this does is says the Democrats, what they are doing is pretty crummy stuff. They are engaged in demagoguery big time and it is wrong, and it goes on to say that the Republicans have a plan, the Democrats do not. The Republican plan is gutsy and the Democratic TV ads are just scare tactics. I think the sad thing here is that we are in a debate right now where, frankly, neither side is gaining because neither side has credibility, because the American people hear us, they think well, they have a good point. Then they hear the Democrats, they say, well, I did not know that. After a while they do not know who to believe. That is why I was so disappointed tonight when the Democrats would not yield us time to have a dialogue, and I was further disappointed when we tried to yield time to them. But we have to have a dialogue back and forth that puts America center stage, not Republicans and not Democrats but America, what is good for your mother, what is good for mine, and also what is good for my children and your children. Let me yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. Fox], and I know we have to wrap it up.

Mr. KINGSTON. I think we need to wrap it up.

Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, I heard a similar quote that said ignorance and bliss is easy. Let me just say that I think it is important for all of our constituents to call us, to write us, to get involved, to come to town meetings and so forth. We are in a huge national debate. We have a budget that has a deficit of about $140 billion to $150 billion. We have a $5 trillion debt. We cannot pass this legacy on to our children, and we will not even be able to do, because the day of reckoning is coming sooner than that. I will close with one story I tell many, many times, you have all heard it, a story about a guy crossing the road. He gets into the middle of the road, and a car comes whizzing around the corner. All of a sudden, the man jumps out of the way, the car swerves to the same direction. The man jumps to the right, the car swerves to the right; the man jumps to the left, the car swerves to the left. Back and forth. At the last possible minute, the man jumps out of the way, and the car pulls up next to him. The driver rolls down the window, and it is a squirrel, and he says, ``It ain't as easy as it looks, is it?'' I think that is the situation we are in in the United States of America right now. We have got a lot of problems, and it is not going to be easy, and it is not going to be something where you can just stay at home and say this is what ought to happen. We all need to be involved in this. But we are America, and Americans have always risen to the challenge, and we will get through these problems today. Thanks for being with us.