Mark Sanford

Mr. SANFORD

Mr. SANFORD. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Mr. SANFORD

Mr. SANFORD. Mr. Chairman, I was going to discuss the short-term outlook for the U.S. economy. Unfortunately, time will not permit much detail, but I would also like to address Laura D'Andrea Tyson's recent statement that budget cuts pose significant downside risks to our economy. I think this shows an antiquated notion that the more Government spends, the better off our economy. This does not seem consistent with what we have seen over the last 30 years. It also does not recognize what Government fundamentally does: Government redistributes wealth, it does not create it. There are three real threats in the near term to our economy. First would be the possibility that Congress does not act seriously on the budget deficit that is facing us; second, that Japan resolves the run- up of its currency to our detriment; and third, that a trade war ensues between America and Japan. Let us explore all three for just a few moments. First, our Nation's budget deficit is the biggest threat to our economy. I think that for several reasons. First, if we were to look on relative terms, the ratio of public debt to gross domestic product that our Nation is facing right now is the highest that our Nation has ever faced. Second, a child born in America today will end up paying $187,000 in interest costs over the course of their lifetime, simply as their share of past Federal spending. Third, it is simple math. The standard of living is directly driven by productivity, which is driven by investment, which is driven by savings. The larger the Government share of the economy, the smaller the personal savings will be, and there will be less money for investment. The second near-term threat would be the international value of our currency. I think there are two grave dangers on this front. One is that almost anything that Japan does in the near term to correct its over-valued currency will hurt our economy. At 75 yen to the dollar, Japan's gross domestic product [GDP] equals America's GDP. That clearly does not make sense. It is unsustainable, and will change. The only question is when. Second, the risk of losing reserve currency status. If the Asian central banks were to use gold as a reserve asset instead of the dollar, or simply to decrease their dollar holdings, I think it would have very damaging consequences for the American economy. Finally, I think the third risk facing us is the possibility of a trade war with Japan. I think we ultimately would be the ones most affected by this, because any escalation of global tariffs would especially hurt the largest trader in the world, which is the United States. Specifically, I do not think that Japan is the problem. The problem facing our economy is a tax system that rewards consumption over savings and investment.

Mr. SANFORD

Mr. SANFORD. Mr. Speaker, Loyalty Day is a time for all Americans to challenge ourselves to capture the spirit of America, and to bring it to life in everything that we do. It is observed every May 1 as a celebration of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Loyalty Day was established by the Veterans of Foreign Wars. I am proud to pay tribute to the VFW and its members, both for the sacrifices that they have made in the service of their country, and for their dedication to the principles that made this country great. The State commander for the department of South Carolina, Keith Harper, has spent many years promoting American values. He is one of the finest Americans that I know, and I hope that every Member of this House will take the time to read his comments on Loyalty Day, and to join me in saluting the VFW for establishing this holiday. Loyalty Day 1995 Of all the holidays we celebrate in this country, none gets less attention than Loyalty Day. Even Labor Day is better known. So that's why I'm happy to be here today, to share with you some thoughts on Loyalty Day and what this day is all about. Unlike the 4th of July, it does not celebrate a specific date in our history. Unlike Veterans Day, it does not recognize a certain group of individuals. Unlike President's Day, it does not honor some of our former Presidents. Unlike Memorial Day, it does not ask us to pause and remember those who did so much for our country. What it does is this: Loyalty Day is a celebration of America. It's a celebration of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It's a celebration of what you are and what you want to be. In a way, Loyalty Day is a challenge. It challenges each and every one of us to capture the spirit of America and bring it to life in everything we do. Loyalty Day is a trip into the future. The Veterans of Foreign Wars take great pride in this holiday. After all, we started it. During the dark days of the 1920's, when America was wracked by the worst depression anyone had ever seen, many Americans began to question our Government, our economy, our politics, and our very way of life. And where there were people with questions, there were Communists running around with their own kind of answers. They say in our hard times, good times for them to overthrow our Government. They were everywhere. They held meetings, they marched in parades, they catered to the out-or-work and the hungry, and they even tried to get American children to join their Communist youth organizations, right here in America. The VFW fought back, our members had given too much, suffered too much, and sacrificed too much in WWI to let a bunch of Communists take America away from us. We held our own meetings, we helped our own out-of-work and hungry, and we began to teach the children of this country what America was all about. And on May Day we held our own parades. That was a day the Communists had claimed as their own, the one on which they celebrated their revolution. Well, we set things straight. We made it an American holiday. And when the Communists paraded down one street, we paraded up the next. On May 1st, 1930, we held a parade in New York City that had 10,000 VFW and Ladies Auxiliary members in it. Over 100,000 people turned out to see it. And when the parade reached Union Square, there was a patriotic rally, with speeches and dozens of bands playing the Star Spangled Banner. Though wracked by depression, America at heart was alive and well, and in the tough times that followed, each celebration of Loyalty Day gave new hope that America would survive. And as our VFW parades grew larger, the Communists' parades grew smaller and smaller. Today they are completely gone. In 1955, we asked Congress to proclaim Loyalty Day a national holiday, and one of our members who was a Senator from Pennsylvania introduced that legislation in Congress. In signing the legislation, President Eisenhower said, ``The prime requisite for retaining our freedom is unswerving devotion to the liberties embodied in our Constitution.'' You who came here today are the kind of people he was talking about. The kind of people who know what America stands for and who take the time and make the effort to support what America stands for. We meet here for one day to celebrate what we enjoy everyday, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Those are the ideals on which America was founded and for which millions of Americans have fought to protect and preserve. We carry on that fight today. We fought communism on the streets of America and on battlefields all over the world. Along the way, we fought the Axis powers in Europe, and the Japanese in the Pacific. We paid a high price for the liberty and freedom we enjoy today. Yet, even as we meet here as free people in a strong and powerful nation, the question hangs over us; who will be our enemy tomorrow? Will they attack us on main street or from some foreign location? No one knows. But one thing is certain, you and I will be the first line of defense. Patriotism is the best weapon you can have in any battle, and patriotism is based on knowing what your country stands for, and believing in what it stands for. Abraham Lincoln described our American government as being a government of the such, we determine our own future. You and I are some of the most important people in this country. What we want today is what America will be tomorrow. Washington does not tell us what we will be, we tell them. But as wonderful as it sounds, our government requires a lot of work from each of us. And no one knows that better than the mayors who are with us today. They are really on the frontlines. If we want a drug-free society, we have to fight for a drug-free society. Thinking about it won't make it happen. If we want a better education system for our children, we have to fight for it. Thinking about it won't make it happen. If we want our American military to be the best in the world and not be thrown away piece by piece in little battles that serve no national purpose, we have to fight for it. Thinking about it won't make it happen. Freedom and democracy require a lot of work from each of us, and you do not have to wear a uniform or carry a weapon to defend them. You just have to do what you're doing right now, taking an active part in America. And to the mayors here, I offer the full support of the VFW. That's the purpose and that's the message of Loyalty Day. It's a day on which we discuss the future of America, and the part each of us will play in reaching those goals. It's a day to take pride in yourself, our community, our nation and our flag. And I thank you for taking part in our Loyalty Day celebration. God bless you, and God bless America.

Mr. SANFORD

Mr. SANFORD. Mr. Chairman, I would applaud my colleague's efforts because he has gone from being a voice in the wilderness to the leader in this national change. I rise in general behind the idea of term limits but very specifically behind the idea of a three-term limit. I do that because I think it most directly affects this culture of spending that we have in Washington. Some would say, well, it does not matter how long people serve as long as there is some sort of limit. That is the equivalent of saying it does not matter how long we stick somebody in while. That does not, again, directly affect that which we need to change, and that is this culture of spending. I think that the American taxpayer is the one in jail right now, and the three-term limit affects this in a couple of different ways. One, it reflects the will of the people. Overwhelmingly, people have said on the basis of 82 to 14 percent, and that is a Frank Lynch poll, that they would rather see people serving three terms than six terms. Two, I think it goes back to the will of the Founding Fathers. They planned for a citizen legislature in which people went up for a little while and tried to make a difference and then went home. In fact, what you see is that, on average, for the first 100 years of this country's existence, people came to Congress and there was 50 percent turnover. That number has fallen down to, for the last 40 years, about 10 percent turnover in Congress. Twelve years will not get you there. Three terms would get us much, much closer to that citizen legislature model. Last, I would go back to where we started, and that is the American taxpayer who is now stuck in jail. The National Taxpayers Union did a study and what they found was that there was direct correlation between the length of time in office and propensity to spend other people's money. So 12 years will begin to get us that. It is better than no term limits at all. What they found was that three terms would do a much better job at that. So I would hope that we would support this measure. I think it represents a real jailbreak for the American taxpayer.

Mr. SANFORD

Mr. SANFORD. I thank the gentleman for yielding this time to me. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this resolution because I think it is an appropriate first step in our beginning to correct this misallocation of U.S. taxpayer funds. I think at the core, what we are dealing with is a constitutional issue because, in the past, Congress has made other loans, whether to Lockheed, Chrysler or New York City or Israel, but in every instance we came on down to the floor of this House and argued that point. Now, for the first time, we are talking about having the President go out and appropriating funds. If you look at the Exchange Stabilization Fund, what you find is that in the past it has been used for about 2\1/ 2\ months. Now a longer period, 40 times longer, of 10 years. Now, in the past we have seen loan amounts of about $250 million. In this case, it is something like 80 times greater than that, with a loan of $20 billion. It does not pass the commonsense test, and I think this resolution moves us in the right direction.

Mr. SANFORD

Mr. SANFORD. Mr. Speaker, I stand before you and the rest of this body to encourage the adoption of the line-item veto. In fact, I have a scary couple of numbers here in front of me. What do $1.75 million for national pig research have in common with $1.7 million for plant stress have in common with $600,000 to ease fish migration up a western river? The thing they all have in common is I cannot do anything about them. I came here to affect the way Government is spending money, and yet the way Congress works is that I cannot get my hands on them. The line-item veto would allow the President to do what 43 Governors can do, and that is to reach in, say this is a piece of fat, it does not make sense and it needs to go. Please vote with me for the line-item veto.

Mr. SANFORD

Mr. SANFORD. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Florida [Mr. Miller].

Mr. SANFORD. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Delaware [Mr. Castle].

Mr. SANFORD. Mr. Speaker, I yield the remainder of my time to the gentleman from California [Mr. Cox].

Mr. SANFORD. Mr. Speaker, I yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from Michigan [Mr. Smith].

Mr. SANFORD. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Smith].

Mr. SANFORD. Mr. Speaker, my parents raised me to tell the truth. They taught me that hiding behind misleading words was the same as telling a lie, and as our Nation is threatened by the debt as it spirals out of control, and as I look at my two small boys, I realize that they, and maybe even their children, will have to pay for our refusing to meet our responsibilities. The question before us though is what do we do about it? One of the things we can do today is pass this rules change. As my colleagues know, for years we heard about budget cuts, yet spending keeps growing bigger, Why is that? Well, in the past, Mr. Speaker, the way Congress worked was that, if we had $150 billion of proposed new increases and made it $50, we called that a savings of $100. My colleagues and I know that's an addition of $50. That is the equivalent of my going down to the corner bait and tackle shop in Murrells Inlet, SC, looking at a rod on sale for $50 that is normally priced at $150, and saying, ``OK, I'll buy it.'' I walk home, walk into the house and say, ``Jenny, I just saved the family a hundred dollars.'' She says, ``What are you doing with a new fishing rod?'' I hold it up an say, ``It was priced at $150, and I bought it for $50. I saved the family a hundred dollars.'' She says, ``Absolutely not. You just spent $50.'' public wants. It is essential if this House is going to be honest with the American people, and I strongly urge every Member of the House to support this small step toward common-sense budgeting. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SANFORD. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. (Mr. SANFORD asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. SANFORD. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. SANFORD. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Hoke].

Mr. SANFORD. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished chairman [Mr. Kasich].