Frank LoBiondo

Mr. LoBIONDO

Mr. LoBIONDO. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman from Florida for yielding me this time. I respectfully disagree with my colleague from New Jersey and the opponents of term limits. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of term limits. Mr. Chairman, we have all seen the faces of angry voters. They want a change. They are tired of the status quo. They want Congress to work. As a freshman Member who came here to change the status quo, I was proud to join with my colleagues to change the Rules of the House on our opening of the 104th Congress. Back in January, we voted for term limits for the Speaker of the House. And on that first historic day, we voted for term limits for our committee chairmen. Now, it is time to vote for term limits for the rest of us. This will be the first time on this floor that we have had the opportunity to vote on term limits. And just as we voted overwhelmingly to reform Congress on that opening day, I urge my colleagues to vote yes on term limits. Term limits is about changing Congress--it is about changing the status quo. That is why I ran for office in the first place, and changing Congress is why I am here today. Opponents say that we don't need term limits. That the elections in 1992 and 1994 show that the people can change Congress anytime they want to. Yet from 1976 through 1994, 9 out of every 10 incumbents were re- elected. Nine out of every 10 Members of Congress can pretty much count on having a political career in Congress as long as they want it. Term limits will change that. It will create elections for open seats. It will ensure that we have new Members of Congress, who come here with different backgrounds, different experiences, and fresh ideas. The concept of our democracy is that real people--average citizens-- make the decisions that will effect us as a nation. Term limits will ensure that more Members of the House and the Senate have that real world experience. Mr. Chairman, the people who elected us are watching. At least two- thirds of the American people support term limits and they want to see what we are going to do. There is no place to hide on this vote. Will we vote to keep business as usual? Or are we willing to accept term limits on ourselves in order to create a better Congress. The American people will be watching to see who votes for congressional reform, and who votes to keep the status quo. And make no mistake, they will remember. I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on term limits, vote ``yes'' on final passage. And vote yes to end the status quo.

Mr. LoBIONDO

Mr. LoBIONDO. Mr. Chairman, I was granted a leave of absence through 4 o'clock this afternoon. I would like the Record to reflect that had I been present I would have voted ``Yes'' on rollcall No. 217, ``Yes'' on rollcall No. 218, ``No'' on rollcall No. 219, ``No'' on rollcall No. 220, ``Yes'' on rollcall No. 221, and ``No'' on rollcall No. 222.

Mr. LoBIONDO

Mr. LoBIONDO. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania for yielding time to me. Mr. Chairman, this month we have taken the historic steps toward requiring government to live within its own means by passing the balanced budget amendment. Today we have before us another tool to cut spending, the line-item veto. Many of us recognize that we live in tough times. Tough times require bold initiatives and bold leadership. H.R. 2 is a bold initiative that demonstrates bold leadership. I do not believe we can any longer hold the taxpayers hostage by including wasteful and at times silly spending in important legislation. Right now we put the President in the position of signing a good bill that has wasteful spending in it, or vetoing the wasteful spending, or vetoing a good bill to get the wasteful spending out of it. It is not a good situation. Mr. Chairman, H.R. 2 will change this. It does not give the President the authority to rewrite the budget or to spend money on something else, but it does allow the President to cut out pork barrel spending for one reason and one reason only, to reduce the deficit. That is what we want to get at. In my home State of New Jersey, like 42 other States across the Nation, we have a line-item veto for our Governor. It works in New Jersey, and it can work in the U.S. Congress. Line-item veto is another tool for deficit reduction. We all agree that we need to reduce the deficit. We have been working in a bipartisan nature to provide positive and meaningful change to the American people. Let us continue that bipartisan effort. Let us vote for deficit reduction by voting for H.R. 2.

Mr. LoBIONDO

Mr. LoBIONDO. Mr. Speaker, my colleagues on the Democrat side of the aisle continue to engage in political maneuvering, but, Mr. Speaker, the facts are very simple. For 25 years the Democrats could not or would not balance our budget. For 25 years the Democrats played games with America's books. For 25 years they recklessly placed Social Security in jeopardy. Well, at long last there is finally some good news because we Republicans will stand firm for all of our people, especially our seniors. Republicans will ensure we have a real balanced budget in place and that Social Security will be soundly protected. We are not going to play games and flap at the jaw like the Democrats who could not produce in 25 years. I say to my colleagues, ``Work with us, and watch us do it right before your eyes now, in real time, so that all of our people, especially our seniors, folks like my mom and dad who are counting on Social Security, will say, `Thank goodness we have a new Republican majority'.''

Mr. LoBIONDO

Mr. LoBIONDO. Mr. Speaker, we joined together just a few short weeks ago in an initial gift, really, I think, to the citizens of this country by in a bipartisan way coming together to vote on the Congressional Accountability Act. I believe that that can set the stage for the endeavor that we are now embarking on, which would allow us to give another gift to the American people, that of a balanced budget amendment. Mr. Speaker, my district, the southern part of New Jersey, is rural and agricultural. We have many small businesses. I try to get around to the fire halls, the church halls, for the barbecues, for the breakfasts, to listen to people, to look in their eyes, and to be able to hear what their concerns are. What they have told me is that they do not understand why Congress does not live in the real world the way they do. They tell me that they live with a balanced budget amendment of their own. They cannot spend more than they take in, not for very long, whether they are individuals or whether they are businesses. They have to live with that discipline. I come from a small business background. I know what it is like to be able to put that dynamic together, that dynamic that seems to be missing from Government, something that is obvious, I think, to all of us in this body and to all of America, that we desperately need: We desperately need that discipline. Now, finally, or once again, I should say, we have an opportunity. We have a great opportunity to be able to give that gift to the American people. I have a little bit of background as a State legislator from the great State of New Jersey. We live with a balanced budget in the State of New Jersey and it works. Yes, very often there are some tough decisions that have to be made. There are some tough choices. But that is what life is all about. And America has to make some tough choices. But I think this choice is relatively simple, and I would like to see us join together in a bipartisan fashion to be able to present this to the American people, something I believe they feel is long overdue that would bring Congress back into the real world that they live in.