David Price

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, the audacity of the House Republican leadership in blocking the entire Federal budget in order to spare the President embarrassment and to cater to their most extreme right-wing members goes beyond anything I have ever seen or experienced in this body. I was amazed in July when the House leadership caved in to the Conservative Action Team, putting the Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill in jeopardy. I wondered, how are Republican leaders going to pass this bill within the President's inadequate numbers? How would we get past this bill to the rest of the appropriations agenda before the new fiscal year began? But, Mr. Speaker, it never occurred to me that Republican leaders would simply disregard the start of the new fiscal year and let the entire budget come crashing down, all to appease the most right-wing members of their caucus. It is equally amazing that the President and his OMB Director are complicit in this strategy, apparently, or perhaps it is a lack of strategy, for in fact this is irresponsibility and dereliction of duty on a monumental scale. What I never dreamed would happen has indeed happened, and the continuing resolution we are voting on today, covering not one bill or two, but the entire discretionary budget, is a monument to an extraordinary failure of leadership and responsibility. This institutional breakdown is fraught with real consequences for real people. The No Child Left Behind Act, for example, was signed by the President amid great bipartisan fanfare in January. Yet, just weeks later, the President submitted a fiscal year 2003 budget that would cut the very education programs authorized in the new law. A continuing resolution will stall education funding and negate the effects of No Child Left Behind while the Bush budget would actually take us backwards. The Bush budget reduces by 82 percent promised support for needy schools and students. Instead of increasing funding to help school districts meet the mandate that all teachers be highly qualified, the President's budget cuts teacher quality funding by 4 percent, eliminating training for 18,000 teachers. Instead of providing increased support for after school centers to increase enrollment by 580,000, the President's budget would actually force 50,000 children to be eliminated from programs that provide safe places to learn after school. Mr. Speaker, the House leadership has allowed a willful group of right-wingers to hold the entire budget process to their ideological agenda. This budgetary breakdown is a disaster, not only for this institution, but for the people we represent.

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to recognize Larry Wilson, the President and CEO of Coastal Federal Credit Union, for his recent election to the Board of the National Association of Federal Credit Unions (NAFCU). Larry has been President and CEO of Coastal Federal Credit Union, located in the Fourth District North Carolina, since 1974. During his tenure, Coastal Federal Credit Union has grown in assets from $2.7 million to $1.245 billion; it now serves over 100,000 members from the great State of North Carolina. Larry Wilson's accomplishments are impressive indeed. He was named NAFCU's Professional of the Year in 1985, and in 1992, Larry was crowned Executive of the Year by the Credit Union Executive Society. His illustrious career further includes leadership in the North Carolina Credit Union League, the North Carolina Credit Union Network, the Eastern North Carolina Better Business Bureau, and the Triangle Chapter of the American Red Cross. Larry's contributions also shine through in Coastal Federal Credit Union's track record. In 1991, Coastal Federal Credit Union was recognized as Credit Union of the Year by NAFCU. Earlier this year, at NAFCU's Annual Conference, Small Business Administration Administrator Hector Barreto singled out Coastal Federal Credit Union for its significant contribution to improving the lives of the underserved. Coastal Federal Credit Union participates in and sponsors an array of programs that benefit the local community, as well as communities throughout the State. During the holidays, Coastal Federal Credit Union sponsors and sells a Christmas card designed by a child who is a patient at Duke Children's Hospital, with all proceeds going to the hospital. Coastal Federal Credit Union has also helped to raise more than $400,000 to establish the bone marrow transplant unit at Duke Children's Hospital. Coastal Federal Credit Union, in participation with credit unions throughout North Carolina, joined together to raise $265,000 to purchase and staff a motor home that travels to various cities in North Carolina to educate the public about child abuse prevention. This training unit is the first of its kind in the Nation. Through Larry and his employees, Coastal Federal Credit Union's motto of ``people helping people'' is put into practice every day. As a highly respected voice for credit unions in our Nation's Capitol, NAFCU will be well served by Larry's membership on the Board. There is no question that Larry's 28 years of dedicated work, personal knowledge and expertise in the credit union industry will help to keep Congress connected with issues that are vital to credit unions both in North Carolina and across America. I congratulate Larry Wilson on his recent election to the NAFCU Board and look forward to continuing to work with him and our Nation's Federal credit unions.

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the conference report on the Corporate Accountability and Accounting Reform bill. I particularly want to commend the ranking member, the gentleman from New York (Mr. LaFalce), for his steadfast leadership. I also want to congratulate our House Republican conferees who, after opposing the House counterpart of the Senate bill, offered by Democrats, have finally read the economic tea leaves and capitulated to the Senate on the bill's major provisions. We now have a bill that creates a strong accounting oversight board, restricts the nonaudit services that accounting firms can provide to audit clients, implements tough new corporate responsibility standards, requires public companies to disclose financial information quickly and accurately, prohibits stock analysts' conflicts of interest, and authorizes the SEC to enhance its investigative and enforcement capabilities. At last we have a serious reform bill. I urge my colleagues to support it.

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for those recollections, and also my colleague, the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Etheridge), for taking the time to pay tribute to our friend, Clarence Lightner, who was a friend and a mentor to me and to so many others. He was a prominent businessman, he was a ground-breaking political leader. Clarence Lightner, Raleigh's first and only African American mayor, died this week at the age of 80. He served a single term as mayor, as the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Etheridge) has pointed out, from 1973 to 1975; and then he played a critical leadership role in North Carolina politics for decades to follow. I have experienced firsthand Clarence's exceptional talent for bringing disparate groups together to effect positive change in both official and unofficial capacities. He led the city of Raleigh during a tumultuous period of expansion and development. His success was directly attributable, I believe, to his ability to relate as easily to people on the street as he did to business and community leaders. Clarence was frequently sought out for his insight and his guidance. It was often said, and was actually reported again in the News and Observer of Raleigh this week, that any candidate seeking voter support in Raleigh had better secure Clarence Lightner's support first. That was the truth, and I can attest to it. Clarence was a mentor to me personally as I attempted to lead our State Democratic Party and then to represent the fourth district in Congress. I valued his wise counsel very much. It was always delivered with unfailing good humor, and his spirit was a generous one and a cooperative one. Clarence Lightner offered leadership to organizations ranging from the National Funeral Directors and Morticians Association to the National League of Cities to the Democratic National Committee, the Raleigh-Wake Citizens Association, the Board of Trustees of St. Augustine's College, North Carolina Central University, and North Carolina State University. He had a huge impact for good in Raleigh and throughout North Carolina and across the Nation. We will continue, Mr. Speaker, to feel this impact long after he is gone. We will miss him. We treasure his legacy. Mr. Speaker, I enter into the Record at this point the editorial tribute to Clarence Lightner from the Raleigh News and Observer from July 10, 2002. A Pathfinder for Raleigh Clarence Lightner was a gentle, soft-spoken man of resolve. At his core he possessed a strength and a courage that helped him overcome racial barriers--and then he helped Raleigh overcome them, too. That is but one of the legacies he leaves following his death Monday at the age of 80. Lightner, long-time proprietor of a funeral home that bears the family name, was the Capital City's first and thus far only African-American mayor, serving from 1973 to 1975. He also was the first mayor to be elected under a then-new procedure whereby the mayor is chosen directly by the people and not by the City Council. Lightner grew up in a segregated city, the son of a prominent businessman, Calvin Lightner, who had run for the city commission in the early 1900s. In Clarence Lightner's lifetime, Raleigh was to change dramatically, and he was to help achieve that change. Though he served just one term as mayor following a period as a council member, Lightner remained a powerful force in politics through his influence in Southeast Raleigh. Long after his term was over he continued to advise candidates whom he favored and to help shape issues in citywide campaigns. Lightner was always unfailingly gracious, and keen in his remembrances of his growing-up in Raleigh. He had, after all, belonged to a family that was active in helping the city grow. He also served by spotting those young people he felt one day could serve in leadership roles. Many of them did not disappoint him, and in their service especially, Clarence Lightner's legacy is a living one.

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague, and I hope that what is coming through these tributes today is the human qualities of Clarence Lightner. There was no question he exerted strong leadership and a visionary leadership. But one reason he had the impact that he did, and that so many people, like us, who regarded him as a mentor and a friend and a shaping force in their lives, is because of his human warmth and generosity of spirit and extraordinary sense of humor and an ability to bring out the best in people, and a desire to see people do their best. He did not need to claim the credit himself. He was very good at bringing along people and letting them shine. There are many, many people in North Carolina whose lives have been enriched by this man and who join us in mourning his passing. So, Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the time to offer this tribute today; and it is entirely fitting that we gather here to honor Clarence Lightner, to testify as to what he has meant in our lives and to bear witness to what he has meant to North Carolina and the Nation.

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Watt) to continue with a few comments on this tribute to Clarence Lightner.

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I want to add my words of tribute to the spontaneous demonstration this afternoon on behalf of our colleague, the gentlewoman from Florida (Mrs. Meek), who has recently announced her retirement. This is an announcement that caught us by surprise and that we regret; but we welcome this chance to pay tribute to the gentlewoman from Florida for whom we have great admiration and affection. I have sat next to the gentlewoman from Florida on both of my Appropriations subcommittees for some years now, both the Subcommittee on VA, HUD and Independent Agencies and the Subcommittee on Treasury, Postal Service and General Government. We have sat through many hearings and many markups together. We have had some good times, and we have had some real challenges. I have developed great affection and respect for the gentlewoman from Florida during this period of service. The gentlewoman from Florida (Mrs. Meek) is a fighter. I will never forget the kind of fight she made for the hurricane victims when her district was stricken some years ago. This very day, I have seen her fighting for people without adequate banking services in our Committee on Appropriations. The gentlewoman from Florida (Mrs. Meek) does not always win these fights, but she always fights with conviction, with a compelling case, and with the kind of style that makes her a very hard person to oppose. She has a warm and winning way; she wins admiration and friendship on both sides of the aisle. She is a unique Member of this body. I have counted it a real privilege to serve with her and am looking forward to several months more of service as we go through the appropriations cycle. I wanted to rush over here when I saw this spontaneous tribute arising on the House floor, because I am so fond of Mrs. Meek and so admiring of her. I am pleased this afternoon to add my words of tribute, to wish her well, and to say that in her months remaining here I anticipate many more good fights and good times as we serve together.

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to inform colleagues that North Carolina has become the first southern State to impose tough new pollution standards on aging coal-fired power plants. This bipartisan legislation is an initiative of Governor Mike Easley, with the collaboration of industry and of environmental and public health advocates. It requires plants to reduce their sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions by 74 and 78 percent, respectively. These standards will improve the quality of life for North Carolinians, and they will save lives by reducing the incidence and severity of respiratory illness. Ironically, as North Carolina takes steps to improve air quality, the Bush administration has proposed a major step backward, actually weakening the Clean Air Act. The EPA's proposed loosening of ``new source review'' regulations would allow thousands of the country's biggest polluters to avoid installing pollution-control equipment as they update and modernize their plants. So even though North Carolina will be doing its part to reduce pollution that causes ozone and acid rain, our State will continue to be stricken by pollution from other States. North Carolina has taken a significant step, Mr. Speaker. I am hopeful that this will stiffen EPA's spine, to give all Americans the protection they need.

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. I yield to the gentleman from Michigan.

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to own up to a promise I made to my friend, the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Bonior), and, equally important, to honor the World Champion Detroit Red Wings. Later today, I will also deliver the other part of my friendly wager with the gentleman from Michigan, a big spread of traditional North Carolina barbeque from Bullock's in Durham. And for those of you who may not know, let me clarify for the record: barbeque is a noun, not a verb. Muhammad Ali once said ``Champions are made from something they have deep inside them, a desire, a dream, a vision.'' Detroit and the entire State of Michigan are a part of that dream today. In the place they call ``Hockeytown,'' the Detroit Red Wings are a team for the ages. Last week, they did more than just win a 10th Stanley Cup. In the end, it was an incredible journey by true legends of the game that will be remembered for a long time to come. Undaunted by pressure, stoic in the face of defeat, resilient in the fight for glory, the Detroit Red Wings proved once and for all that hockey is a game of confidence and a game of skill. They embody the gritty do-it-yourself spirit that Detroit is known for, and the town embraces them for it. This series will always hold a special place in my heart. While it ended with the defeat of our Carolina Hurricanes, it will always be remembered as the time when, for a brief moment, hockey amazingly overshadowed basketball in the State of North Carolina. So congratulations to the Detroit Red Wings, to the city of Detroit, and to the citizens of Michigan. Now, Mr. Speaker, this speech obviously was written by the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Bonior). And as a man of my word, I am gladly reading the tribute that he has written, as promised in our wager. But as a defender of Mayberry--that is how the Detroit media refer to us--I would like to add something unscripted here about North Carolina, ``Hockeytown of the South,'' as we prefer to be called. Mr. Speaker, the Hurricanes made us proud with their fine performance and their hometown spirit. Excellent in both athletic performance and sportsmanship, they are equally gracious in defeat, setting a good example for their congressman. I also feel compelled to issue a storm warning. If the gentleman does not know what a ``Category 5'' is, he had better find out before next season!

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Chairman, I want to commend the Committee on Science for its work in putting together this reauthorization for the National Science Foundation. This bill shows us the path we must take to ensure that our Nation continues to lead the world in technological innovation and in scientific capacity, by doubling Federal funding for the NSF over the next 5 years, just as we have done for the National Institutes of Health. In a widely-circulated letter last year, Dr. Harold Varmus, the former director of the NIH, made it clear that we do health research no favors when we underfund basic research in the physical sciences. Physical science disciplines are often the key not only to providing the tools used in conducting health research, but in delivering the benefits of health research to the public. Just take a walk through any hospital surgical unit or emergency room, where you will be surrounded by more pieces of medical technology than you can count, and you will quickly understand this point. I also want to draw the attention of Members to the bill's reauthorization of the National Science Foundation's Advanced Technology Education program. The ATE program is the only NSF program targeted to community colleges. Associate-degree-granting colleges educate the vast majority of the three to five technicians that support each engineer, scientist, and medical doctor across this Nation. Meeting the demand for high-tech workers by both our modernizing manufacturing sector and our new-economy enterprises requires strengthening undergraduate education in science, mathematics, and technology at associate-degree-granting colleges, where nearly half of all undergraduate college students are enrolled. That is the purpose of the ATE program, which provides grants to 2-year institutions to develop new curricula and teaching methods and materials in advanced technology fields. I have worked on our Subcommittee on VA, HUD, and Independent Agencies of the Committee on Appropriations to increase ATE funding, and we have enjoyed some successes. However, current funding is still under $40 million a year, and cut of $950,000 has been recommended by the administration for the next fiscal year. A more adequate authorization would offer considerable help. Fortunately, the Committee on Science accepted an amendment offered by my good friend, the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Baird), to authorize the ATE program at $50 million for fiscal year 2003, with a $5 million increase for each of the next 2 fiscal years. In fact, the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Baird) and I have introduced legislation to more broadly expand and strengthen the ATE program. In addition to increasing funding for the program, the Science Undergraduate Community College Education Enhancement Development Act, the SUCCESS Act, H.R. 4680, would give community colleges more flexibility to develop innovative core math and science curricula, and would provide more opportunities for community college students to have research experiences at 4-year institutions. Our bill would also establish an advisory committee, comprised of representatives from industry and academia, to evaluate the effectiveness of the ATE program and to make recommendations on how it can be improved. Also, it would promote the dissemination of ATE results to community college systems across the Nation. While the increased authorization level for the ATE program is included in the bill before us now, the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Baird) was successful in adding the remaining provisions of H.R. 4680 to the Undergraduate Science, Mathematics, Engineering, and Technology Improvement Act, which was also recently approved by the Committee on Science. I again congratulate the Committee on Science and our colleagues on both sides of the aisle for the fine work they have done today in bringing H.R. 4664 to the House floor. I urge all of our colleagues to support it.

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in full support of our troops in the field. They are risking their lives on behalf of the American people and the global community. On the eve of Memorial Day, we honor the dedication of our men and women in uniform, on whom our Nation has always depended and on whom we are depending today to rid the world of the scourge of terrorism. We must and we will provide the resources needed to support these troops and to shore up our homeland security. We also must protect our Nation's economic integrity and strength. America can be strong militarily without being weak economically. Yet it is that link, that essential link between military and economic strength, that the Republican budget threatens to break today. Mr. Chairman, I reject the proposition that our war on terrorism requires or excuses fiscal irresponsibility. And I emphatically reject the notion that those of us who raise critical fiscal issues are somehow being unpatriotic or are not supporting our Nation's cause. That is a scurrilous charge, unworthy of this body. Mr. Chairman, many of us bear the scars of hard-won budget discipline by which we finally overcame the fiscal follies of the 1980s. I remember well the decisive turning point, the budget vote of 1993. That deficit reduction bill was passed without a single Republican vote. I remember well the jeers on this House floor as our Republican friends waved good-bye, good-bye to the courageous Members who had risked their seats by casting that vote. I will never forget that. I will never forget how hard won that budget discipline was after 12 long years. But the fiscal turnaround was real, it was genuine, and we made steady progress during the 1990s in reducing the deficit and finally achieving a unified budget surplus, and then at last a surplus in the non-Social Security budget. This chart tells the story: steadily reducing deficits, and finally, in the non-Social Security budget, a surplus. Over a three-year period we actually paid down the national debt to the tune of over $400 billion. Now the reversal has come, a reversal confirmed and accelerated by this Republican budget. No more surplus: 43 percent of the ten-year surplus consumed by the Republican tax cut mainly benefiting the wealthiest Americans. Back into deficit spending. Back into diverting Social Security and Medicare revenues from their intended purpose. No more debt reduction. No more preparation for the day when the baby boomers retire and this Nation must redeem Social Security's promises. And now, as if to add insult to injury, the Republican leadership of this House has injected into this supplemental appropriations bill a stealth provision to increase the debt limit as a way of sparing Republican Members an embarrassing up-or-down vote on the debt limit and as a way of masking the consequences of their budgetary shenanigans. It is the most cynical kind of partisan tactic. It tarnishes with a deceptive and irresponsible maneuver an appropriations bill that in fact is necessary to carry out our antiterrorism offensive and to strengthen our homeland security. Mr. Chairman, we can fight terrorism without jeopardizing Social Security. We can build our Nation's defenses without abandoning fiscal responsibility. But in order to do that, we must have an honest, responsible, balanced and bipartisan budget; and we call upon our Republican friends to work cooperatively to bring such a budget into being.

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, many of us will vote for H. Res. 392 because we do indeed wish to ``express solidarity with Israel in its fight against terrorism.'' We are repulsed by the suicide terrorist attacks perpetrated by some Palestinian groups and gravely concerned by Chairman Arafat's failure to prevent such attacks and his encouragement of a violent uprising. The Israeli people need to know that they can count on the United States at this time of peril. The resolution before us, however, falls far short of the kind of expression that might best contribute to stopping the violence and moving toward a long-term settlement. The resolution appears designed to drive a ``wedge'' among friends of Israel for partisan purposes, and it risks misrepresenting the rationale behind the current efforts of President Bush and Secretary Powell to bring the parties together. A more adequate resolution would reiterate our support both for the security and integrity of Israel and for justice and self-determination for the Palestinians. It would back a vigorous, sustained American peacemaking role. It would affirm Israel's right of self-defense, while noting the obligation to distinguish between uprooting terrorism and destroying the institutions and infrastructure of Palestinian self- government. I regret, Mr. Speaker, that H. Res. 392 falls so far short. But its ninth clause captures a sentiment which I believe all of us share, urging ``all parties in the region to pursue vigorously efforts to establish a just, lasting, and comprehensive peace in the Middle East.'' May we as a body and as a government find ways to tirelessly advance this goal in the critical days and weeks ahead.

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, today, March 20, 2002, the Republic of Tunisia celebrates the 46th anniversary of its independence. Since adoption of its first Constitution in June 1, 1959, Tunisia has made great progress in embracing procedural and substantive democratic reforms by holding contested presidential and legislative elections that provide for the opposition party to hold seats in parliament; expanding freedom of expression among its people; providing a free public education for all children; and promoting the equality of women, including the election of women to parliament. As a result, the Republic of Tunisia has reaped the benefits of becoming a world trading partner through bilateral free trade agreements, trade agreements with European Union, and nearly two decades of sustained economic growth. The relationship between the United States and Tunisia dates back to the 18th century when our two countries signed a treaty of friendship. Strong ties of cooperation continued after Tunisia gained its independence in 1956 and continue today as Tunisia joins us in the fight against terrorism. Today, we commemorate the independence of the Republic of Tunisia and celebrate our special relationship with the Tunisian people.

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. If I could inquire further of our ranking member, is there any provision in this budget for emergency spending?

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. I thank the gentleman for yielding and for taking out this special order tonight to let us continue the budget debate that has gone on today and that is of such importance to the future of the American people. Madam Speaker, it was only 10 months ago that we were hearing projections of $5.5 trillion worth of surpluses over the next 10 years in this country. What has happened since then is a fiscal reversal that I believe historians will tell us is unmatched in our history, where we have gone from a $5.5 trillion projected surplus to a projected surplus of essentially half a trillion dollars, and even that is probably an overestimate, because the budget numbers that our Republican friends are working with do not include lots of things that we know are probably going to have to be changed and that they are already advocating themselves. It is a sobering reality that we are dealing with. But instead of dealing with that reality and putting us on a path to improving our situation, the budget our Republican friends have put out here today and that the House has approved is, I am afraid, not only going to ratify the situation but actually deepen our difficulty. The Social Security surplus is estimated to be about $1.2 trillion over the next 6 years. That was a surplus that we had hoped to not spend on other things but instead to apply to buying down the national debt and therefore preparing ourselves to meet Social Security's obligation in the next decade. But now that Social Security surplus is going to be spent under this Republican budget. Over 86 percent of that surplus is going to be spent. This chart will illustrate the reality. Last year we were projecting a surplus in the non-Social Security portion of the budget of $100 billion in the near term and then well up into several hundred billion dollars later in the decade. Now, a year later, the Bush budget, passed by this House today, put forward by the Republican leadership, now shows that there not only is no non-Social Security surplus but that we are actually in deficit in the non-Social Security portion of the budget, and that means we will be borrowing from Social Security in order to meet our obligations.

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. I will be happy to yield.

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that actually less than 10 percent of this reversal, less than 10 percent of the disappeared surplus, is related to the war on terrorism. Forty-three percent of it has to do with the President's tax cut, which our Republican friends shouted through last year with assurances that there was plenty of slack, plenty of running room, that we could do this safely and have a trillion left over. But 43 percent of that fiscal reversal has to do with that tax cut and less than 10 percent with the war on terrorism. This chart will illustrate the situation. All legislation, including the war on terrorism, accounts for 17 percent and the war on terrorism is about half of that. These technical changes and economic changes have to do with the economic downturn and some of the additional costs in Medicare and Medicaid. It is not all any one factor. But the predominant factor is indeed last year's tax cut.

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Absolutely. The gentleman is correct. A year ago we were debating Republican and Democratic budget alternatives. The Republican alternative left no margin for error. It basically said let us take the surplus and spend it on a tax cut and let us risk going into the Social Security surplus. The Democratic plan was far more balanced. We also proposed a tax cut, a tax cut that was aimed at estate tax relief, aimed at putting money in families' pockets who most needed it. That was a proposal that I think could have gotten widespread support. But our Republican friends insisted on going way beyond that. We also had built in a disciplined, systematic program of debt reduction, of buying down the national debt. We also provided for some needed investments in defense, in prescription drug coverage under Medicare, and other pressing national priorities. Most of the American people, I think, agreed that this was a more balanced approach and one that left a greater margin for error in case the economy did not perform as we hoped. Now we know in reprospect that our plan would have been far superior and would have avoided this fiscal turnaround that we have now seen.

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. I think the gentleman is absolutely right. Even before the tragic events of September 11, it was clear that the fiscal policies of our Republican friends and of the Bush Administration were being read by the markets in ways that simply were keeping those long-term interest rates up and were showing that the fiscal projections did not have much credibility. Of course, with this budget we passed today, that problem has been compounded. A year ago we were looking at essentially paying off the publicly held debt by around 2008 and being in a far stronger position in this country to do what we need to do, most particularly to meet our obligation to Medicare and to Social Security. Now, unfortunately, we are looking at $3 trillion debt levels, an accumulation of $4 trillion more in debt, for as far as the eye can see. This is an enormous fiscal turn around, and if you doubt it has some effect on our yearly bottom line, this chart should illuminate that impact.

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Is there any provision for altering the Alternative Minimum Tax so millions of Americans don't bump up against that?

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding me time. Mr. Chairman, this budget is deceptive in at least three respects, and I and a number of colleagues are going to elaborate on that in the next few minutes. First, it uses a 5-year forecasting window instead of the customary 10-year window; secondly, it bases the forecast on projections generated by the administration's political appointees at OMB, rather than the nonpartisan CBO; and, thirdly, it omits the cost of major initiatives that both parties agree must be enacted. Since the 1997 Balanced Budget Act, it has been customary to employ 10-year projections in budgeting. Last year, when Republicans were pushing a major tax cut, they were eager to use 10-year projections that put the aggregate cost of their proposal in a more favorable light. Now, when it does not work that way, when it does not suit their purposes, Republicans are providing only a 5-year budget outlook. This budget further seeks to mask the effect of the Republicans' failed fiscal policies by using OMB projections instead of relying on Congress' official nonpartisan scorekeeper, the CBO. During committee markup, our budget chairman characterized this hat trick as a simple use of the remote control. ``If you don't like the weather report,'' he said, ``you might as well change the channel. That is what we are doing.'' Yes, indeed, they have changed the channel. Remember, though, that shutting down the Federal Government in 1995 was undertaken by our Republican friends precisely to force a Democratic administration to use CBO estimates. Now House Republicans have decided that CBO's figures are, well, inconvenient. And they are. Just using CBO's baseline estimate of spending under current law exposes a $318 billion hole over 10 years. It sounds like the bad old days of ``rosy scenarios,'' and it goes straight to the resolution's bottom line and explains the majority's sudden affection for OMB figures. Finally, this budget omits and understates the cost of things that the Republican leadership has already stated its intent to do. The administration is about to request supplemental appropriations for defense and homeland security. Congress will honor these requests. The day after the committee markup of this budget, the Speaker himself announced plans to bring to the floor in April larger tax cuts than this resolution permits. The budget resolution accommodates none of this, nor does it provide for a workable Medicare prescription drug benefit, nor for natural disaster relief, nor for critical investments in education, nor for a fix for the Alternative Minimum Tax. Mr. Chairman, the real Republican budget creates a huge permanent deficit. It spends at least 86 percent of the Social Security surplus and all of the Medicare surplus over the next 6 years, and it heaps up public debt for years to come. Smoke and mirrors cannot hide the fact that the Republican budget spends the Social Security surplus as far as the eye can see, and it has no plan to bring the budget out of deficit and back into surplus. Clearly, supporters of this budget do not want to reveal the ultimate consequences of their choices, and in the next few minutes my colleagues and I will further elaborate on the ways this budget cloaks its full cost. Mr. Chairman, I yield to my colleague, the gentleman from Washington (Mr. McDermott). (Mr. McDERMOTT asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for demonstrating that these arguments about 5 versus 10-year budget numbers and switching to OMB estimates are not just budget wonkery. They have real consequences for our fiscal solvency and for the welfare of future generations. Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer).

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from North Dakota (Mr. Pomeroy).

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Davis).