Jack Kingston

Mr. KINGSTON

Mr. KINGSTON. I wanted to say one of the things that people are overlooking so often are the cuts for the rich. Seventy four percent of the people who benefit from the tax cuts have a combined household income of less than $75,000. Last week I was speaking to the AARP. I said, ``You know who the rich are getting this tax cut? It is you, the senior citizens. You are going from $600,000 to $750,000 on your estate tax exemption, from $11,000 to $30,000 as the exemption for Social Security earnings limitation. You or your family will be getting a $500 tax credit for having a dependent senior living in your home.'' These are helping senior citizens as much as anybody.

Mr. KINGSTON. One of the things that I think the gentleman from Connecticut [Mr. Shays] said that is extremely important and I wish we could really front-page bold-type your words about the warring factions asking for our troops to come there to help them keep peace. Because they are not asking. You had said that you were part of a group inviting them to come to Washington and assure us that it was their wish and desire to have American troops there as an integral part of them resolving their problems peacefully. They are not going to do that. As you recall in Ohio last week, they would barely shake hands and they avoided eye contact. So I think you have really hit something very key to this whole debate. Are we thrusting our troops and our American, quote, good will on these folks, or are they saying, ``We can't do it without you''? I am not sure. We need to find out.

Mr. KINGSTON. I was in the State legislature before I got here. One of the things I have always heard about politicians is you make one set of promises on the campaign trail and then you vote a different set of philosophies once you are in elected office. This was the first time in my knowledge in my political experience that Members of Congress, elected officials, actually kept the campaign brochure in their front pocket. And as you remember, it was even read each day, the first 1-minute of each day was to read the Contract With America. Again as you are saying, this is what we are going to do, this is what we promised we would do, this is what we are doing, and now after the first 100 days, that is what we did.

Mr. KINGSTON. If the gentleman will yield, if we look at a private sector example, the big motor companies, the tractor manufacturers who are out there, they have all in the last decade had to downsize, and as a result most large United States manufacturers can produce more now at less cost and at a higher quality than they could in 1980, and the Federal Government has to go through this process as well. But it is not easy. You know, it has taken the fuel of the freshman class and the votes provided by the freshman class to get this through. But, you know, long-term players like you know that if this was easy we would have had a balanced budget since 1969, and, you know, I think the Speaker, has said nobody said that when you are going to start cutting the programs they are going to come up here and say this is great, you are cutting out my job but you are balancing the budget, I am so proud of you. That is just not happening.

Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman will yield, and I hate to stop his peroration. He is on a roll and sounding good, but I wanted to make a point that I think is very important. We do not discuss this as much when we talk about that middle class tax burden, which as the gentleman said, has gone from about 3 percent in the early 1950's to 24 percent now, and the gentleman from Maine points out how the middle class is just piling on more and more. the gentleman from Michigan talked about we got hit with new taxes under Bush, new taxes under Clinton, and this tax cut is less than those new taxes. But the point is, there are also a lot of tax loopholes that this balanced budget bill actually stops. So often American people say, ``You know, I don't mind paying my fair share, but I want to make sure everybody is paying their fair share.'' In many cases, there is a lot of fine print that it is stopping some of these loopholes in this balanced budget bill. A lot of this corporate welfare is stopped. But it never makes it into print or debate, but it is in there. The gentleman from Connecticut talked about what the impact is on the middle class family of having a lower interest rate. If you have a $75,000 mortgage over a 30 year period of time, you save something like $39,000 with lower interest rates. That is big money for middle class America.

Mr. KINGSTON. This all comes back, and the gentleman from Michigan [Mr. Smith] mentioned it earlier as to why, Alan Greenspan, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, when he testified to the Congress, and it was actually months ago, he said that balancing the budget could bring down the interest rate as much as 1.5 percent. Other economists have said 2 percent. Most everyone agrees it will be at least 1 percent. That is 1 percent, 2-percent lower, on a student loan, a house mortgage, a car payment, your Visa bill, your MasterCharge bill down the line. That is going to help the middle class of America.

Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman will yield. I am a Congressman in a car pool line. I have four kids. I drive a car pool every Monday before flying up to here. As I look at the other dads and moms in the car pool line and I think about that $500, I know where the money will go. It will go to buy new shoes, maybe a new book or two, maybe a downpayment on a computer or some software program. It will go to positive things. And what happens is most of that money will be spent locally and it will be spent in small businesses. Those small businesses, as we all know, will expand, they will create jobs, and new people will be working. People will get off of public assistance benefits. And what will then happen? More revenue comes in. I believe, Mr. Speaker, getting back to what the gentleman from Connecticut said, that the tax cut is very much in line with balancing the budget and will, in fact, grow the economy.

Mr. KINGSTON

Mr. KINGSTON. Well, I guess I got your attention, and I will be glad to yield to the gentleman from Florida.

Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, let me repeat, I asked the Democrats who were not doing this to raise their hands. Not many hands were raised.

Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, my question was simple. How many of you all do this at taxpayer expense, and how many of you will pledge to stop doing it? That is all my question is. I think this is an abuse of the franking privilege. You can read that in the Congressional Record. I have already gone over it. But I say it is time we stop this.

Mr. KINGSTON. I will be glad to yield for a quick question to the gentleman from North Carolina.

Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Colorado for yielding me time. Mr. Speaker, you know, speech after speech today from the Democrat Party has one central theme: Not that of balancing the budget, but a theme of fear. Scare your grandmother, scare your child, scare your fellow Democrat; that if this fear mongering does not work, we will not be reelected. Now, let us examine the low income housing credit which they claim to be champions of on behalf of the poor. What do they really use it for? Now, Democrats, I want you all to watch this, because I think it might make you squirm a little bit in shame. Here is what you know you are doing on franked, taxpayer expenses. You send out this letter. And it says, and this is shocking to me, ``Put some extra money in your pocket with the earned income tax credit. You may be eligible for as much as $2,258 a year back. Come clean, your money.'' Then it goes on, ``Even if you do not owe income taxes, you can get EIC.'' I want to ask you Democrats, how many of you do not do this? Raise your hand. Very few hands go up on the Democrat side. That is very interesting to me, very interesting. And I appreciate the honesty of the fact that only three or four of you are not doing this. I would like us to say if we do restore the earned income tax credit, I would love your side to take a pledge that you will not be sending out such a shameless flyer on taxpayer expense. If you would take this pledge not to abuse the franking privilege in this way----

Mr. KINGSTON

Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, the folks back in my district do not understand all the history of the Balkans. They do not understand everything that is going on in Dayton, and they do not understand all the boundaries and all the players. But they do understand the many questions that we have to answer to them, and I think the gentleman from Wisconsin [Mr. Roth] alluded to these. Is there a clear peril, an American peril? Is there a clear mission? Is there a clear plan to achieve it? How will we accomplish it? Who will help us with it and to what extent? Who are our allies, who will be in the foxhole with your sons and daughters? What will determine when the mission is accomplished? How will we withdraw once that mission is accomplished? And what will we do to keep a lasting peace? Winston Churchill said nothing that ever starts in the Balkans ever ends there. Bismarch said, there is nothing that could happen in the Balkans that is worth one drop of German blood. That was before World War I. This is not a peace process. This is a war process. I do not think at this time we should send our sons and daughters to Bosnia, and I am going to support the rule and vote no on sending troops there.

Mr. KINGSTON

Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, I want to follow up on my friend from Ohio's comments. Talk about nonessential employees. The EEOC has come in and told Hooters, as the gentleman said, to hire men who look like that to work in their restaurants and then, among other things, from the crowd who brought you the $435 hammer, they are saying that Hooters needs to teach employees to be more sensitive to men's needs. They are sensitive to men's needs. That is why they are making millions of dollars. There is nothing that men like more than an abundance of Buffalo wings and breasts. Think about it. That is what Jay Leno said last night. The Federal Government is $4.9 trillion in debt, Hooters is making millions of dollars, and they are coming in and telling Hooters how to run their business. These busybody bureaucrats are defining what it is to be a nonessential employee, and they are making the case for shutting down the Government. Let us balance the budget and get rid of the busybody bureaucrats, so that if you go in to have a good meal, you will not have to look at that, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. KINGSTON

Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, you know, the Democrats are being so clever today that it makes you think they borrowed some of that $40,000 Hazel O'Leary spent on a PR firm to come up with some good 1-minutes, and I congratulate them only for being cute and clever today, $133,000 a year, and they get their reading material from cartoons. They go to college, they graduate, they go to law school, and what do we get? We get tabloids and cartoons. Mr. Speaker, I give my one-minute on this side of the aisle today, and although there are only a few yards difference between these lecterns, often there are miles and miles and huge canyons of philosophical distance. I think it is important that we start talking bipartisanship. Last night, 48 of your Members joined 241 of our Members in saying we are going to put partisan sniping behind us. We are going to put the Federal employees who are out of work back to work. We are going to end the furloughs. We are going to reopen the Social Security services office, the Passport office. We are going to reopen the National Parks, and most of all, 48 of your Members in a bipartisan fashion said yes to balancing the budget in 7 years. In doing this, they did not sell out on welfare; they did not compromise on taxes. Finally, Mr. Speaker, you all come over to our side; we will talk.

Mr. KINGSTON

Mr. KINGSTON. Point of order, Mr. Speaker. He is trying to debate. My point of order and question to the Chair was: Should not that chart be removed from the Chamber, since the Democrats obviously do not have the self-discipline to follow the rules of the House?

Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, I move to table the motion.

Mr. KINGSTON. Point of order, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, point of order. Was it not the opinion of the Chair that the chart in the gentleman's hand is out of order?

Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, since it is obvious the Democrat Party does not want to play by the rules of the House, would it not be in order to remove the chart from the floor?

Mr. KINGSTON. Point of order, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. KINGSTON

Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. You know, 435 Members of this body claim in principle to accept the balanced budget, and every break we go back to the Kiwanis Clubs and Lions Clubs, and we tell the Rotary Club we want a balanced budget. ``Of course, I support it.'' I call this Rotary Club speech versus reality. Tonight you have a chance to make that vote. There is nothing to squirm about in this. It is just a clean bill. Very simple. Do you want a balanced budget in 7 years or not? Do you want to get the furloughed employees back to work or not? Do you want to leave the gates of old faithful open or not? Do you want the social security services and passport services to be reopened or not? That is what we are debating. We are not debating Medicare. We are not debating welfare reform. We are not debating taxes. We know you all love taxes as much as you seem to disdain the middle class. But this is only a bedrock, fundamental question. Statement in principal: Do you want a balanced budget in 7 years or not? You know, the previous speaker said that our Speaker, the Speaker of the House, had been waiting for this for months. Well, I will tell you what, 234 Members on this side of the aisle have been waiting for this, and so have the American people. Let us balance the budget and let us do it tonight. Let us vote for this bill.

Mr. KINGSTON

Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, I have here a voting card, which all Members of Congress have. We put it in the machine, hit a little button, and then it goes to a computer over a block away in the Rayburn building and comes back and up on the board our vote is permanently recorded for all people to see. We also are recorded on C-SPAN. We have great technology. In fact, many people around America are watching me speak tonight and others speak through the miracle of technology. I am wondering if the technology that has brought us C-SPAN and cards like this could not also be used for a truth meter. Is it not time, Mr. Speaker, that Members of Congress maybe have some special rig to the microphone that when we start lying and start getting way off the farm from reality that maybe we could get a little sound that goes ``beep.'' For example, when one of the leaders of the Democratic Party says, ``Well, Republicans are going to cut Medicare,'' knowing full well we are going from $4,800 to $6,700 per person; knowing that, and they look your mother in the eye and your dad and assume that they do not know what is going on and say, the Republicans are going to cut your Medicare. Wouldn't it be great to have a beep come on and for all those C-SPAN viewers out there to know the person who is speaking is lying.

Mr. KINGSTON

Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, let me be first to say that in my concept of new technology, we could install them on both the Democrat and Republican microphones, so that when a Member of either party get off the farm and reality we could have a little beep come on. It was an idea in technology. I thought my good friend from Texas was going to ask to yield the floor and see if we could set up a study committee for this truthometer on the microphone.

Mr. KINGSTON

Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, it seems unbelievable to me that we are sitting here debating whether the President can tap into Social Security trust fund and the civil service retirement fund. I find that almost unbelievable that the Democrat Party, who has been using the senior citizens all over America as their chief pawn, as their shield, to ram or resist any kind of legislation that comes up, now they want to take the money out of the senior citizens' trust fund. I think it is appalling to me. It is unbelievable. The Treasury Department has announced it intends to divest the civil service retirement trust fund and fail to invest the G fund in order to create room under the debt limit and raise cash to make interest tomorrow, starting November 15. That is to me unbelievable. Those funds, among others, are to be tapped for at least $25 billion. But on November 30, the Treasury Department will again need about $13 billion in cash, so the divesting of this retirement fund could even go on even to a higher limit than that. Well, with Social Security holding $483 billion in Federal securities, and civil service holding $366 billion, the Treasury can tap into these funds and use it to run up more public debt. Now, this is totally out of hand. What we are debating here should not be the President's or the Treasury Department's intention and ability to tap into these sacred trust funds. What we should be debating is are we going to balance the budget. When the President was running for office in 1992, June 4 on ``Larry King Live,'' he said, ``I am going to balance the budget in 5 years.'' His only balanced budget proposal is a 10-year plan that does not even balance the budget. In fact, in the year 2002, when the Republican plan has a zero deficit, the Clinton plan has a $209 billion deficit. Mr. Speaker, the debate here is about balancing the budget. I hope the President does not steal money from the senior citizens for the Federal retirees, and I urge Members to vote for this bill.