John Linder

Mr. LINDER

Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Colorado [Mrs. Schroeder].

Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. Gekas].

Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from California [Mr. Cox].

Mr. LINDER

Mr. LINDER. Madam Speaker, bowing to special interests, the veto President is poised to strike again. The President who stopped welfare reform, tax cuts, and a balanced budget announced this past weekend that he will veto a bipartisan legal reform bill. As Governor of Arkansas, the President called for just this type of legislation to limit frivolous lawsuits and sky-high punitive damage awards. But as President, the special interest lobbying group of trial lawyers is a heavy contributor to his reelection campaign. Democrat Senator Jay Rockefeller said it best: ``Special interests and raw political considerations in the White House have overridden sound policy judgment.'' Raw political considerations drove the President to veto welfare reform after he promised to ``end welfare as we know it.'' Political considerations made the President veto tax cuts and a balanced budget after he promised both. It is time for Bill Clinton to consider the American people--and not special interest lobbyists--for a change.

Mr. LINDER

Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, the gentlewoman who spoke just before us talked with great glee about this President's balanced budget, but she did not tell the whole story. He also protected $7 million for foreign countries to teach their children how to measure rainfall and $10 million more for the National Endowment for the Arts. He also gave us a budget that indeed is balanced under CBO numbers, the Congressional Budget Office numbers, in 7 years. It just does not cut any spending until the sixth year and the seventh year, after he leaves office for his second term. Does anybody in the sound of my voice believe that you can add to domestic spending for the next 5 years, and then hope a future Congress can come along and in 2 years make all the cuts that come to balance? This is indeed a balanced budget, a dishonest balanced budget, and a cynical one at that.

Mr. LINDER

Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, President Clinton is fighting, threatening a Government shutdown, for $7 million more to send to foreign countries to educate their students on the environment and rainfall measurement techniques. He wants to give $10 million more to the National Endowment for the Arts. He wants more money to establish a new Federal program to help guide people through the 160 Federal job training programs. Only the Clinton administration would want to create a new program to make the maze of 160 overlapping programs understandable. Further, Clinton wants $2 million for the Ounce of Prevention Council which in a year and a half has produced one glossy magazine and administered zero grants. White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta's wife works for this program and is paid $300 per day. It is simply hypocritical to say you are for a balanced budget and then demand $8 billion for more spending. In January, the President said, ``The era of Big Government is over.'' He also vowed to never shut down the Government again. Unfortunately, he has abandoned these pledges already to return to the traditional liberal tax and spend philosophy. That the President would support paying Mrs. Leon Panetta $300-a-day to produce one magazine but is not willing to give Americans families a $500-tax cut is the height of arrogance.

Mr. LINDER

Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, this morning's Washington Post had an article quoting the Senate minority leader as saying that we are 5 days from a third Government shutdown and the situation is every bit as precarious as it was several months ago. What it did not go on to say was why we are close to a Government shutdown: Because the President wants to spend more money on his favorite projects. He wanted $8 billion. The House passed a bill providing $3.3 billion, but that did not include the $7 million more to foreign countries to teach students to measure rainfall; $10 million more for the controversial art projects funded by the National Endowment for the Arts. There may be another Government shutdown, Mr. Speaker, but it will be entirely on the President's shoulders because he cannot get rid of his appetite for more spending projects.

Mr. LINDER

Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the following committees and their subcommittees be permitted to sit today while the House is meeting in the Committee of the Whole House under the 5-minute rule: the Committee on Banking and Financial Services; the Committee on Commerce; the Committee on Economic and Educational Opportunities; the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight; the Committee on International Relations; the Committee on the Judiciary; the Committee on National Security; the Committee on Resources; the Committee on Science; the Committee on Small Business; the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure; the Committee on Veterans' Affairs; and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. It is my understanding that the minority has been consulted and that there is no objection to these questions.

Mr. LINDER

Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution. The previous question was ordered.

Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, I include the letter from the Governors for

Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, for purposes of debate only, I yield such time as he may consume to my friend, the gentleman from Florida [Mr. Goss], a member of the committee. (Mr. GOSS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, this is a simple rule providing for the consideration of H.R. 3021. House Resolution 371 provides for 1 hour of general debate in the House equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking minority member of the Committee on Ways and Means. Following the hour of general debate, this resolution provides one motion to recommit as is the right of the minority. The motion to recommit may include instructions only if offered by the minority leader or his designee. Mr. Speaker, this bill is intended to provide the Treasury Secretary with the authority to invest trust fund receipts or other Federal funds from the date of enactment of this bill through March 29, 1996. H.R. 3021 also extends the current authority to incur debt, not subject to the public debt limit, for the purpose of guaranteeing the timely payment of Social Security payments and other Federal disbursements. We must not jeopardize the full faith and credit of the United States, and this bill assures that Social Security payments and other Federal disbursements are available to the American people who have paid into these funds. This is a very straightforward rule. This short term legislation not only protects those who have paid into Federal trust funds but also represents a good faith effort to allow the Governors sufficient time to work with the Congress and the administration on welfare and Medicaid reform. The Governors who are involved in efforts to reform entitlements have requested more time to finalize the details of a bipartisan welfare and Medicaid reform proposal. This bill will give us some additional time to work out an agreement that may help salvage the economic future of our Nation. Mr. Speaker, this is not business as usual. It is about our commitment to save our country from a crisis of crushing debt. The current Federal debt is approximately $4.9 trillion and interest on the debt is $235 billion per year. Over the next 15 years--if current patterns continue--this Nation will pay as much on interest on the debt each year as we pay for national defense beginning as early as 1997. Absent some fiscally responsible action by this Congress and the President, the interest on the debt and the spending on entitlement programs will soon strangle our economy and rob our children and grandchildren of the American dream. It is immoral to leave this mountain of debt to future generations. It is important to note that this bleak scenario only becomes reality if current spending patterns continue. This Congress has already begun to make a difference by passing reduced appropriations bills and by passing the Balanced Budget Down Payment Act, which will save a combined $30 billion this year. We know, however, that it is the uncontrolled growth of mandatory entitlement spending that will be the greatest contributor to the increasing debt. The massive spending associated with these programs is linked to the condition and magnitude of the debt. It is for this reason that we should pass this short-term debt limit increase while we continue to negotiate entitlement reform proposals that may be completed by the end of the month. This rule and the accompanying legislation will surely pass with overwhelming support, serving as a solid sign that the House remains optimistic about the chances for responsible reforms. Given the administration's statements criticizing the Governor's reform proposals, we remain concerned that an agreement may prove elusive. However, the Governors have requested more time to work on a bipartisan reform agreement, and I remain hopeful a resolution is still attainable. With additional time, it is possible that elements of the Governor's recommendations could be among the cost-saving provisions attached to long-term legislation. This resolution was unanimously reported out of the Rules Committee yesterday. I urge my colleagues to support the rule so that we may proceed with consideration of this legislation. Mr. Speaker, I include for the Record the following material regarding House rules and the amendment process.

Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, for purposes of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Frost], pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for purposes of debate only. (Mr. LINDER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks and to include extraneous material.)

Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I would point out that we are responding to the Democrat as well as Republican Governors, to give them time to try to come up with a compromise, a bipartisan solution to Medicaid and welfare. They have asked for this extension. Hopefully, their cost savings can be part of the entire debt ceiling extension. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 371 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. LINDER

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

Mr. LINDER

Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the gentleman from Wisconsin [Mr. Obey] may have until midnight tonight to submit an amendment to H.R. 3019 for printing in the Record.

Mr. LINDER

Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from California [Mr. Dreier], my colleague on the Committee on Rules. (Mr. DREIER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Wisconsin [Mr. Klug].

Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Louisiana [Mr. Tauzin], a member of the Committee on Commerce.

Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Florida [Mr. Stearns]. (Mr. STEARNS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Florida [Mr. Goss], my colleague on the Committee on Rules. (Mr. GOSS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I would just like to observe that I am troubled deeply that the gentleman from Massachusetts is deeply troubled, and I shall reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Fields], the chairman of the subcommittee that produced this bill. (Mr. FIELDS of Texas asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)