E. Shaw

Mr. SHAW

Mr. SHAW. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the motion to recommit offered by the gentleman from Florida [Mr. Gibbons].

Mr. SHAW. Mr. Speaker, we have had a long debate, a period of 1 hour. We have had speaker after speaker from the Democrat side to come down to the floor and say what my friend from Florida just said about we would not be able to pay the troops in Bosnia. We are not talking about closing down the taxing authority of this country. We are not talking about stopping the other revenue flows that are already in place coming into this country. We are simply talking about one simple truth that I think we as Members of this body are duty bound to protect. That is, the constitutional right which is reserved to this body and the Senate for expenditure of funds and for borrowing money. What we are trying to do here is to close a loophole, a loophole that has not been the exclusive domain of the Democrat administration. Previous Republican administrations have sought out and used this loophole, but this loophole circumvents the rights of this Congress. I am not going to sit by idly and watch us default on our debt. That is not what this argument is about. This argument is about can the administration, do they have a loophole, and believe me. Constitutional scholars will debate this question, but this clears it up. They will not have the authority to circumvent the Constitution which very clearly provides that borrowing money and spending money is a prerogative of this Congress. So, Mr. Speaker, I would ask all the Members to stand up for the rights of the Congress as set forth in the Constitution, close this loophole, vote ``yes'' on this most important bill.

Mr. SHAW. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. SHAW. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Washington [Mr. Metcalf].

Mr. SHAW. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from New Jersey [Mr. Saxton].

Mr. SHAW. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Florida [Mr. Foley].

Mr. SHAW. Mr. Speaker, I yield 15 seconds to the gentleman from Michigan [Mr. Smith].

Mr. SHAW. Mr. Speaker, I would, for the previous speaker from Virginia, [Mr. Moran] point out the section of the bill starting on page 2. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from California [Mr. Dreier]. (Mr. DREIER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. SHAW. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. For the previous speaker, the gentleman from Virginia [Mr. Moran], I would point to the section of the bill starting on page 2 entitled ``Protection of Benefits and Expenditures for Administrative Expenses,'' where it specifically provides that these expenditures will be taken care of and can be paid for: The Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund, the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund, the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund, the Government Securities Investment Fund, the Department of Defense Military Retirement Fund, the Unemployment Trust Fund, each of the railroad retirement funds and accounts, the Department of Defense Education Benefit Fund, the Post- Vietnam Era Veterans Education Fund, and the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund.

Mr. SHAW. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Michigan [Mr. Smith], who chairs the Task Force on the Debt Limit.

Mr. SHAW. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Florida [Mr. Mica].

Mr. SHAW. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Florida [Mr. Stearns].

Mr. SHAW. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. English], a member of the Committee on Ways and Means.

Mr. SHAW. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia [Mr. Collins], a member of the Committee on Ways and Means.

Mr. SHAW

Mr. SHAW. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks regarding H.R. 2621, which has just passed this House.

Mr. SHAW

Mr. SHAW. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the memory of a great Floridian, Paul Csonka, who passed away this last Friday at the age of 90. Paul was a distinctive individual who led a remarkably full life. His life centered around his love for music and his desire to enrich the lives of those around him with his knowledge. One of his early professional achievements was cofounding the Salzburg Opera Festival in pre-War II Austria. He was actively involved in this project until the Nazi regime took over his homeland. With nothing but his love of music and the clothes on his back, he fled to Cuba in 1938. There, Paul was able to continue his cultural endeavors, and share his fervor with the people of Cuba. Once again, he was forced to leave all of his worldly possessions behind as he fled Cuba after Fidel Castro took over. But it was his art that truly mattered, and this is what he brought with him to south Florida. After settling in Palm Beach, Paul ushered in a period of increased cultural awareness. He served as the creative director of the Civic Opera of the Palm Beaches which eventually evolved into the Palm Beach Opera. The opera thrived under his direction as he singlehandedly defined the opera scene in Palm Beach. After leaving the Palm Beach Opera in 1983, his presence in the cultural community persisted. He continued working with music students and produced a series of music programs at a variety of retirement communities. He received a honorary degree from New York University as a tribute to his contribution to the music world. While he was renowned for his musical talents, he will be remembered most for his character and humanity. His experiences and personality made him larger than life and his charisma was infectious. Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in remembering the life of Paul Csonka.

Mr. SHAW

Mr. SHAW. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of this most important piece of legislation. It has been late in coming, but it is certainly an answer to many of our commitments to our senior citizens. For many it is very difficult to live on Social Security and then be limited to $11,000 a year in earnings limits, as existing law provides. By increasing this over 7 years to $30,000, we are recognizing the fact that many of our seniors want to continue to work, can continue to work, and can live a much better and fuller life if they are able to work. It is high time that this legislation pass. I compliment the chairman and the gentleman from Indiana [Mr. Jacobs] for working on this, in a bipartisan way, to bring this most important piece of legislation to the House floor.

Mr. SHAW

Mr. SHAW. Eventually, it will have to be translated into that.

Mr. SHAW. Could we sell it to either one of our caucuses? That is the question.

Mr. SHAW. I yield to the gentleman from Maryland.

Mr. SHAW. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate getting this time. Mr. Speaker, in listening to the debate and looking at the votes and the comments that have been made over the last week, one would think that the two things that we were debating were President Clinton and Speaker Gingrich. We seem to be in the dialog talking by each other. I know my friend from Maryland, Mr. Hoyer, said that he was committed to the 7-year budget, but he also said that he did not like our priorities. I can understand that. That is why we have two political parties, and that is why we have differences of opinion even within the parties. Unfortunately, what has happened here is I think that there have been too many ultimatums thrown out that have prevented people from bargaining. Unfortunately, the Speaker and the President have become the issue. There is no question, and we all know that President Clinton made a commitment for a 5-year budget when he ran for President. He now has gone, and we have all seen the TV advertisement that is on, that has him saying everything from 5 to 10 years. But one thing is in all of those statements and one thing that is in the thought of I think every Member in this House: We have got to go forward for a balanced budget. Now, if the President had gotten on to the balanced budget, 7-year, and adopted that 2-years ago, we would only have 5 years left from today. But with our 7 years, that would have given him 9 years to balance the budget by putting our 7 years on top of the 2 years that he has already been in office. Unfortunately, the Congress and the President have not moved forward. As everyone talks a good talk, no one is walking the good walk. We have got to go forward to a balanced budget. Now, where do we go from here? The gentleman from Maryland [Mr. Hoyer] says we are sending messages. Yes, we are sending messages. We know the bill we are going to send over to the President is going to be vetoed. But let us have the President send a message back. The President says that he is willing to talk 7 years, but he is not willing to commit to 7 years, so we have a fundamental disagreement as to where you can get an honest count. It is our position over here that what President Clinton agreed to early on of using the Congressional Budget Office is where we want to be and is where we want to stay, because we feel that is where we are going to get our honest count. But, fine, instead of arguing over the scorekeeper, instead of arguing over all of these things and personalities, let the President send us a message back. Let him give us a 7-year budget, and let him use his scorekeepers, and we will have our scorekeepers score it. If we are anywhere close and if the thing can possibly be reconciled with the House budget, then, fine, let us negotiate that. Let us get down to negotiating the specifics and quit throwing spears back and forth. The American people are fed up with it, it is time for this to stop, [[Page H 13305]] and we have got to move the agenda and move the debate to the facts and get on with the Government.

Mr. SHAW. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time for a moment, that is just the point. That is exactly the point that I am making, is that we cannot agree on the scorekeeper. We want what is what we believe to be an honest scorekeeper, which is CBO. Fine, we cannot agree to that. So that is what I am talking about. Let him go ahead and send us his balanced budget, and let us try to negotiate it, and then we will have it scored. He will use his scorekeeper; we will use ours. If we are going to get into an agreement on the CR, we feel very strongly we need to use the CBO figures, because the gentleman knows and I know, and we have been around here about the same length of time, if you adjust that interest rate or project an interest rate a quarter of a point, an eighth of a point, all of a sudden all of the economic assumptions change. This is what we call smoke and mirrors. You can develop an economic assumption so that anything would balance, even our current level of spending, if you come up with the right economic assumptions.

Mr. SHAW

Mr. SHAW. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce legislation to provide environmental relief to the Nation by saving two of our greatest national treasures: the Everglades and the Florida Bay. The Florida Everglades is a unique region that enjoys a broad area of subtropical freshwater wetlands, which nourish the tropical marine environment of coastal bays and estuaries. If you travel on the water between the Florida Bay and the Everglades, you will be overwhelmed by the blue-green color of the water. Wildlife has flourished in the Everglades and Florida Bay areas, allowing people to enjoy their unspoiled beauty and profit from its generosity. Unfortunately, the Everglades is the most threatened U.S. national park, and the Florida Bay's lush seagrass meadows are dying as a result of the polluted water dumped into the Everglades by sugar growers. Three acres of Everglades' wetlands die everyday. Clearly, it is time to restore the Everglades- Florida Bay ecosystem for the benefit of the whole Nation. Let me be clear that the first step in ensuring that the Everglades continues to be one of the Nation's beautiful national parks should be to end the U.S. Sugar Program. If sugar growers were forced to compete in the open market, approximately 20 percent of artificially profitable Everglades agricultural area [EAA] [[Page E 2196]] sugarcane production would cease. Thus, this acreage could be purchased and used to store water and reconnect Lake Okeechobee with the Everglades, which would be a major step in restoring the Everglades. We need to take other steps now, however, to protect the Everglades from further pollution and deterioration until we can end the Federal Sugar Program. Thus, I have introduced a bill which assesses, for the next 5 years or until the Federal price support program for sugar growers is terminated, 2 cents per pound on raw cane sugar grown in the EAA. These funds will be deposited into an account known as the Everglades Agricultural Area Account, which will be used to make grants to the South Florida Water Management District so that it, in conjunction with the State of Florida, may acquire property in the Everglades to restore these national treasures. A 2-cent-per-pound assessment on raw sugar produced in the EAA would raise $350 million over 5 years, which would help purchase land, halt the pollution of the Everglades, and assist in restoring water quality. After thoroughly researching this pollution crisis in the Florida Everglades, the Corps of Engineers and the South Florida Water Management District have created a plan to save and restore the Everglades. Under this plan, 131,000 acres of land within the southern EAA must be purchased at a cost of $355 million. The money raised by the 2-cent assessment will fund this plan and help save the Everglades. Sugar growers in the Everglades area have been forced to take steps to improve water quality by implementing best management practices with respect to phosphorous discharge and agreeing to pay approximately $25 an acre over the next 20 years, that will be used to help restore the water quality. The concessions made by the sugar growers under the Everglades Forever Act, however, cap the sugar growers' contribution and do not require them to make full reparation until 2010. That is simply too little too late to save the Everglades. Sugar growers in the EAA have benefited from Federal and State subsidized water projects that drain water from the Everglades to make this land suitable for sugar production. These water projects have severely injured the Everglades, and therefore it is only right that sugar growers be responsible for the cleanup of the Everglades and pay their fair share for the purchase of these lands. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to act now to protect these national treasures by supporting my bill to restore the Everglades to the pristine condition so that it can be enjoyed for generations to come. My bill is fair to the sugar growers who have reaped tremendous benefits from the sugar program at the cost of two of our most beloved but most neglected national treasures: the Everglades and the Florida Bay. It is time for the sugar growers to work with the rest of the Nation to preserve these treasures.

Mr. SHAW

Mr. SHAW. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding this time to me. Mr. Speaker, I would like very quickly to say that this should not be a partisan vote tonight. This is a question of whether or not we are going to balance the budget of this country within 7 years. It is about the economic future of this country. It is not about a tax cut. There is no tax cut in this bill. It is not about Medicare. Medicare is not in this bill. It is not about a Republican or a Democrat agenda. It is simply about common sense: Do we want to leave the country that we received from our parents, do we want to leave that quality of life and economic future to our kids? Tonight, before each one of us casts our vote, close your eyes for just a second, think about your kids, your grandkids. Think about the generations to come after us. Do we want them to have what we had? Or do we want to leave them a bankrupt Nation? Think about it tonight. This is the only question that we should really consider: Do we want to live within our means and leave a better country for our children than we have today?

Mr. SHAW

Mr. SHAW. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to remember and honor the life and legacy of Yitzhak Rabin, the great Israeli leader who, even after his tragic death, continues to inspire Middle East nations to search for peace. I was filled with sorrow to learn of the horrible way in which Prime Minister Rabin was assassinated. It is a great irony for a man who devoted his life to peacemaking to fall by such senseless means. My condolences and my prayers go out to the Rabin family, the people and friends of Israel, and those who must carry on the peace process. Prime Minister Rabin was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace for his vision and accomplishments as a peacemaker. He served the people of Israel with great distinction in several government positions. And, under his leadership, the foundation for peace between Israel and the Palestinians was established which I pray will continue to grow. I will remember Yitzhak Rabin for his leadership, his vision, and his extraordinary devotion to peace. I wish God's speed to those who must carry on his legacy. Let peace rule in his honor.