John Spratt

Mr. SPRATT

Mr. SPRATT. Mr. Chairman, I yield for the purpose of making a unanimous consent request to the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Capps). (Mrs. CAPPS asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. SPRATT. Mr. Chairman, I yield 30 seconds to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Watson) so that she can respond.

Mr. SPRATT. Mr. Chairman, I yield for the purpose of making a unanimous consent request to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson). (Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. SPRATT. Mr. Chairman, I yield for one more unanimous consent request to the gentlewoman from Guam (Ms. Bordallo). (Ms. BORDALLO asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. SPRATT. Mr. Chairman, I yield for the purpose of making a unanimous consent request to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Woolsey). (Ms. WOOLSEY asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. SPRATT. Mr. Chairman, I yield for the purposes of a unanimous consent request to the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Slaughter).

Mr. SPRATT. Mr. Chairman, I yield for the purpose of making a unanimous consent request to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Linda T. Sanchez). (Ms. LINDA T. SANCHEZ of California asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. SPRATT. Mr. Chairman, I yield for the purpose of making a unanimous consent request to the gentlewoman from Indiana (Ms. Carson). (Ms. CARSON of Indiana asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. SPRATT. Mr. Chairman, I yield for the purpose of making a unanimous consent request to the gentlewoman from Illinois (Ms. Schakowsky). (Ms. SCHAKOWSKY asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. SPRATT. Mr. Chairman, I yield for the purpose of making a unanimous consent request to the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney). (Mrs. MALONEY asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. SPRATT. Mr. Chairman, I yield for the purpose of making a unanimous consent request to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Owens). (Mr. OWENS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. SPRATT. Mr. Chairman, I yield for the purpose of making a unanimous consent request to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Waters). (Ms. WATERS asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. SPRATT. Mr. Chairman, I yield for the purpose of making a unanimous consent request to the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro). (Ms. DeLAURO asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. SPRATT. Mr. Chairman, I yield for the purpose of making a unanimous consent request to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Corrine Brown). (Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. SPRATT. Mr. Chairman, I yield for the purpose of making a unanimous consent request to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Watson). (Ms. WATSON asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. SPRATT. Mr. Chairman, I yield for the purpose of making a unanimous consent request to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson- Lee). (Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. SPRATT. Mr. Chairman, I yield for the purpose of making a unanimous consent request to the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Davis). (Mrs. DAVIS of California asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. SPRATT. Mr. Chairman, I yield for the purpose of making a unanimous consent request to the gentlewoman from the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton). (Ms. NORTON asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. SPRATT. Mr. Chairman, I yield for the purpose of making a unanimous consent request to the gentlewoman from Missouri (Ms. McCarthy). (Ms. McCARTHY of Missouri asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. SPRATT. Mr. Chairman, I yield for the purpose of making a unanimous consent request to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Solis). (Ms. SOLIS asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. SPRATT

Mr. SPRATT. Mr. Chairman, I yield 15 minutes to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Baird), and ask unanimous consent that he have the right to allocate the time allotted to him.

Mr. SPRATT

Mr. SPRATT. Mr. Chairman, I yield 15 minutes to the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Moore) for the purposes of controlling the time.

Mr. SPRATT. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself 3 minutes before yielding to others to talk about debt and Social Security because the two, believe it or not, are critically linked. Every year when the President sends us his budget, the Congressional Budget Office does an analysis of the President's budget and applies the President's budget to its baseline for the economy and extends it over a 10-year period of time. I have a copy here in my hands of the CBO estimate of the President's budget for fiscal year 2005. If there is nothing else my colleagues read in this rather laboriously written report, I recommend to my colleagues table 1, chapter 1, and I recommend to them the very last column because in the very last column, at the top of it, we have a CBO estimate of how much will be added to the national debt, the statutory debt, if the President's budget, which is basically the same as the Republican budget on the floor now, is implemented and carried out. The number is $5.132 trillion. That is the estimate of the statutory debt increase that will result from the adoption of the President's budget, $5.132 trillion in additional debt. What is the consequence of that? We can have tax cuts, but when we have tax cuts and do not have a surplus, the amount of the tax cut goes straight to the bottom line, adds to the deficit, and the deficit adds to the national debt, and sooner or later, the debt has to be paid. The principal has to be paid, and periodically, interest on the debt has to be paid. There is nothing more obligatory than the interest we owe and the principal we owe on the debt backed by the full faith and credit of the United States Government. So, basically, what my colleagues are electing with these tax cuts is not to pay it, but to shift the cost onto our children. So the subject we are debating really is a moral subject: How much should we shift onto our children in the way of additional debt? They are going to have to carry Social Security, which is underfunded; Medicare, which is underfunded; and now with this vote, we are shifting off onto them $5.132 trillion in additional debt. If my colleagues do not believe it, come over here and look at this CBO report. What is the early toll of that debt service? We had worked debt service down from $250 billion a year, interest on the national debt, to $153 billion this year, last year. Within 10 years, debt service will double. It will go up to $374 billion. That is called a debt tax. We get a tax cut today, but in 10 years, the cost of having the tax cuts today, adding to the national debt, will be $374 billion, doubling of the debt service. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SPRATT

Mr. SPRATT. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself 45 seconds. To complete what the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Reyes) was saying, it is significant and Members should understand that we have made special provision in our budget resolution to see to it that the contracting officers of the full military services have the budget authority backup needed to continue the privatization plan for expanding and improving military housing. Without the action we take, without the additional budget authority we provide these contracting officers, military housing will come to a trickle, if not a screeching halt. We provide that in our budget resolution. In addition, I would say to the gentleman in the well just now talking about NASA that we provide $4.875 billion over 5 years more than the House budget resolution for the projects that he was just praising. Mr. Chairman, I yield 16 minutes to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Moran), and I ask unanimous consent that he be allowed to control that time.

Mr. SPRATT. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Reyes).