John Spratt

Mr. SPRATT

Mr. SPRATT. I yield myself 6 minutes. Mr. Speaker, let me make everyone aware of what is at stake here. What the minority has proposed is to take this resolution, this bill, and add to it a budget resolution for 2010 and years thereafter, way outside of the established procedure of the House to do at this point in time. We have strived mightily to finish up all of the appropriations bills by the time we adjourn for the August vacation. And it looks as though we are going to be successful in our pursuit. And I think we all deserve credit for having accomplished that. Were we to adopt this resolution, we would have a completely different set of numbers. At least $48 billion would have to be reallocated within section 302(a), because there is a cut immediately in discretionary spending. If you hold constant and inflate the amount of money provided for overseas contingency operations, military operations, the amount of money that would have to be extracted from other programs that has basically already been distributed, already been allocated, already been cut, would be around $70 billion. That is a lot of work that would have to be done again. We would have to basically go back to square one and start over again. So that is the first problem we have with this bill. And that basically is enough reason for anyone who is concerned with finishing timely business here in the House for the summer before adjourning, that is enough to vote against the substitute that the gentleman is offering. But if that's not enough for you, read onward. Get a copy of this resolution and read the language to see what is being proposed here, because what the gentleman proposes to do is to fix spending, total spending, discretionary spending and deficit as a percentage of gross domestic product for a period of 5 years, after which it will be fixed at the levels it reaches at the end of the 5-year period of time. This would have profound consequences for the budget. We have never budgeted like that, not over that period of time. Furthermore, the gentleman says we are going to put these in place-- this is a resolution that he understandably, under the circumstances, has cobbled together in a few days--he is going to impose something that would be binding for 5 years. And if there were a reversal in the economy for the worse, and we needed to engage in countercyclical economic intervention, this would be a huge stumbling block, because two-thirds of the House would have to agree to any deviation from the spending limits that this resolution or this substitute would impose, two-thirds of the House. A determined minority of one-third could block any kind of salutary action we wanted to take. That's not good policy. It's not good policymaking. We have never done it before. It would be a mistake to do it now. So for those reasons, I would say to all of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, read the resolution, read the substitute, and I think you will see this is something we do not want to do at this particular point in time. We don't want to go back to square one and do the appropriations bills all over again. We don't want to cast a rigid cast around the budget resolution so that if we do have a downturn in the economy the budget resolution itself would actually be, the budget would actually be procyclical. We try to have countercyclical economic policies built into our budget. This budget resolution, this budget substitute would actually be procyclical. It would worsen the downturn in the economy if it were to take that turn at this point in time. So for all of these reasons, I would urge Members on both sides of the aisle, mine particularly, but the other side as well, to look carefully before you cast this vote and vote ``no'' on the substitute that has been offered by Mr. Ryan. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SPRATT. Mr. Speaker, one question to the distinguished ranking member. Where were you when we had, first, Iraq and then Afghanistan, and it came to paying for those endeavors which account for by far the biggest growth in spending in the discretionary accounts. There were no spending caps at that particular point in time. I yield for a brief response.

Mr. SPRATT. I now yield 1 minute to the distinguished majority leader, the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer).

Mr. SPRATT. I would say once again, Mr. Speaker, using the balance of my time, that every Member in voting on this substitute should understand its consequences. Its consequences would be to undo completely the bill that we're trying to move now that a lot of us believe is a useful measure, useful tool in disciplining our budget. It will be a shame to see us come this far only to falter on a resolution like the substitute offered by the gentleman from Wisconsin. It will not be consistent at all. And it's interesting to note that while he makes elaborate provisions for limiting spending and limiting deficits, there's no provision whatsoever made for incorporation of the PAYGO rule, which has proved itself in the past to be successful. So I say vote for the resolution, but vote first against the substitute that is being offered by the gentleman from Wisconsin because, if it is adopted, it will not adapt to, will not fit into the base bill before the House. Instead, it would undo its effectiveness altogether. I yield back the balance of my time. Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore

Mr. SPRATT. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. SPRATT. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the motion to recommit.

Mr. SPRATT. This resolution is too clever by half. Our colleagues across the aisle have not had some sudden epiphany and decided this bill, after all, was something they could embrace. This is an effort not to push the bill across the finish line, but to kill it before it finally gets passed here from the House. We have worked for months to get statutory PAYGO to the point where we can now put it over the top and put it in the statute books of the United States of America. If we vote for the resolution, if we vote for the motion to recommit, we will put that at jeopardy because this is a procedural device to defeat a bill that they cannot defeat on the substance of the merits of the bill itself. We won the argument on the substantive merits. They want to take it back now by a procedural device. Their aim is to insert in this bill numbers that were inserted and used in a Blue Dog publication that was issued last January, 7 or 8 months ago. The numbers have changed. They're dramatically different from what they are in the conference report, the concurrent resolution we finally adopted. As I said, we've been through an arduous budget process to determine these details. If we now begin undoing those details, everything will come unraveled, including the bill before us. So I would urge every Member on this side to stick together. We're on the verge of passing it. I yield to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Hill), who is one of the authors of the bill.

Mr. SPRATT. Mr. Speaker, I yield the balance of my time to the distinguished majority leader, the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer).

Mr. SPRATT. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. SPRATT. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. SPRATT

Mr. SPRATT. Madam Speaker, under section 422(a)(2) of S. Con. Res. 13, the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2010, I hereby submit for printing in the Congressional Record revised 302(a) allocations for the Committee on Appropriations for fiscal years 2009 and 2010. Section 422(a)(2) of S. Con. Res. 13 directs the chairman of the Committee on the Budget to adjust discretionary spending limits for certain program integrity initiatives when these initiatives are included in an appropriations bill. The bill H.R. 3170 (Making appropriations for financial services and general government for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2010, and for other purposes) includes an appropriation for such an initiative in accordance with S. Con. Res. 13. A corresponding table is attached. This adjustment is filed for the purposes of section 302 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, as amended. For the purposes of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, as amended, this adjusted allocation is to be considered as an allocation included in the budget resolution, pursuant to section 427(b) of S. Con. Res. 13. Any questions may be directed to Ellen Balis or Gail Millar.

Mr. SPRATT

Mr. SPRATT. Madam Speaker, under section 423(a)(1) of S. Con. Res. 13, the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2010, I hereby submit an adjustment to the budget allocations for the Committee on Appropriations for each of the fiscal years 2009 and 2010. Section 423(a)(1) of S. Con. Res. 13 permits the chairman of the Committee on the Budget to adjust discretionary spending limits for overseas deployments and other activities when these activities are so designated. Such a designation is included in the bill H.R. 3082, Making appropriations for military construction, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2010, and for other purposes. A corresponding table is attached. This adjustment is filed for the purposes of section 302 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, as amended. For the purposes of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, as amended, this adjusted allocation is to be considered as an allocation included in the budget resolution, pursuant to section 427(b) of S. Con. Res. 13. DISCRETIONARY APPROPRIATIONS--APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE 302(A) ALLOCATION [In millions of dollars] ------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mr. SPRATT

Mr. SPRATT. Madam Speaker, under section 323 of S. Con. Res. 13, the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2010, I hereby submit a revision to the budget allocations and aggregates for certain House committees for fiscal year 2010 and the period of fiscal years 2010 through 2014. This adjustment responds to House consideration of the bill H.R. 2454, the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009. A corresponding table is attached. This revision represents an adjustment for the purposes of sections 302 and 311 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, as amended. For the purposes of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, as amended, this revised allocation is to be considered as an allocation included in the budget resolution, pursuant to section 427(b) of S. Con. Res. 13. DIRECT SPENDING LEGISLATION--AUTHORIZING COMMITTEE 302(a) ALLOCATIONS FOR RESOLUTION CHANGES [Fiscal years, in millions of dollars] ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2009 2010 2010-2014 total House Committee ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- BA Outlays BA Outlays BA Outlays ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Current allocation: Energy and Commerce........... 11 2 10 13 -10 -2 Ways and Means................ 0 0 6,840 6,840 37,000 37,000 Change in the American Clean Energy and Security Act (H.R. 2454): Energy and Commerce........... 0 0 9,260 370 266,324 252,354 Ways and Means................ 0 0 0 0 4,416 4,416 Total....................... 0 0 9,260 370 270,740 256,770 Revised allocation: Energy and Commerce........... 11 2 9,270 383 266,314 252,352 Ways and Means................ 0 0 6,840 6,840 41,416 41,416 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mr. SPRATT

Mr. SPRATT. Madam Speaker, I am transmitting a status report on the current levels of on-budget spending and revenues for fiscal years 2009 and 2010 and for the five-year period of fiscal years 2010 through 2014. This report is necessary to facilitate the application of sections 302 and 311 of the Congressional Budget Act and sections 424 and 427 of S. Con. Res. 13, the Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 2010. The term ``current level'' refers to the amounts of spending and revenues estimated for each fiscal year based on laws enacted or awaiting the President's signature. The first table in the report compares the current levels of total budget authority, outlays, and revenues with the aggregate levels set by S. Con. Res. 13. This comparison is needed to enforce section 311(a) of the Budget Act, which establishes a point of order against any measure that would breach the budget resolution's aggregate levels. The second table compares the current levels of budget authority and outlays for each authorizing committee with the ``section 302(a)'' allocations made under S. Con. Res. 13 for fiscal years 2009 and 2010 and fiscal years 2010 through 2014. This comparison is needed to enforce section 302(f) of the Budget Act, which establishes a point of order against any measure that would breach the section 302(a) discretionary action allocation of new budget authority for the committee that reported the measure. The third table compares the current levels of discretionary appropriations for fiscal years 2009 and 2010 with the ``section 302(a)'' allocation of discretionary budget authority and outlays to the Appropriations Committee. This comparison is needed to enforce section 302(f) of the Budget Act, which establishes a point of order against any measure that would breach section 302(b) sub-allocations within the Appropriations Committee. The fourth table gives the current level for fiscal years 2011 and 2012 for accounts identified for advance appropriations under section 424 of S. Con. Res. 13. This list is needed to enforce section 424 of the budget resolution, which establishes a point of order against appropriations bills that include advance appropriations that: (1) are not identified in the joint statement of managers; or (2) would cause the aggregate amount of such appropriations to exceed the level specified in the resolution.

Mr. SPRATT

Mr. SPRATT. Madam Speaker, I commend the gentleman for bringing the bill to the floor and I rise in strong support of the Disabled Military Retiree Relief Act of 2009. This bill accomplishes several important things. It enhances the benefits of Federal civil service retirees. It extends the bonuses available to our military recruiters to ensure that they have the tools needed for recruitment and retention. But most importantly, this bill restores the benefits earned by a group of veterans who are particularly deserving. The group I speak of is comprised of veterans who were medically retired with a disability and less than 20 years of service. These disabled veterans tend to be younger, and as a result, they tend to be less well off financially. Reducing their earned benefits by offsetting the receipt of one benefit against the other, retirement pay against VA disability benefits, does not strike them as fair. And we can understand why. We first recognized their cause in the Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008, when the Congress, Democratic Congress, fought to include them in the Combat Related Special Compensation program. Now President Obama has asked us to take the cause one step further. He has asked us to provide concurrent receipt, phased in over a period of 5 years, for those veterans who are medically retired with a disability rating and for whom no longevity requirement applies. This bill moves to fund the first year of that proposal. This legislation will go a long way towards showing these veterans that they have not been forgotten, their service has not been forgotten nor has their disability which they incurred in service. Specifically, this bill will repeal the offset, which has prevented medically retired veterans from concurrently receiving their retirement pay and their VA disability compensation at the same time. Despite its high importance, please bear in mind that this is a 1- year solution. And there is a reason for that. We have a rule here called the PAYGO, pay-as-you-go rule, which basically says when you enhance or expand eligibility for an entitlement program, you have to pay for it so that it will not worsen the deficit. In order to provide the offsets to keep from worsening the deficit as we undertook this very just adjustment of the veterans benefit program, we have had to look across the spectrum for different items. You just heard some of them read off by Mr. Hall a few minutes ago. We will have to, next year, do the same thing to continue this benefit. And to expand the benefit we will have to look for even more. So it is not easy. It is not easy by any means. But it is worthy of these veterans who have done a yeoman service for their country, who have sustained wounds that they will bear for the rest of their life, and which have disability benefits which should not be offset. So this is a significant step forward, but it is a step that we have not yet completed. It is a step in the right direction, but we still have a way to go. And next year we will have to revisit this again in order to renew this benefit and in order to expand it for another year. Nevertheless, this is a well-worked piece of legislation for a veterans group that dearly deserves the benefits that it provides. I urge support for the bill.

Mr. SPRATT

Mr. SPRATT. Madam Speaker, under section 324 of S. Con. Res. 13, the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2010, I hereby submit a revision to the budget allocations and aggregates for certain House committees for fiscal year 2010 and the period of fiscal years 2010 through 2014. This adjustment responds to House consideration of the bill H.R. 2990, the Disabled Military Retiree Relief Act of 2009. A corresponding table is attached. This revision represents an adjustment for the purposes of sections 302 and 311 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, as amended. For the purposes of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, as amended, this revised allocation is to be considered as an allocation included in the budget resolution, pursuant to section 427(b) of S. Con. Res. 13.

Mr. SPRATT

Mr. SPRATT. Mr. Speaker, under section 423(a)(1) of S. Con. Res. 13, the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2010, I hereby submit for printing in the Congressional Record an adjustment to the budget allocations for the Committee on Appropriations for each of the fiscal years 2009 and 2010. Section 423(a)(1) of S. Con. Res. 13 permits the chairman of the Committee on the Budget to adjust discretionary spending limits for overseas deployments and other activities when these activities are so designated. Such a designation is included in the bill H.R. 2892, Making appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2010, and for other purposes. Corresponding tables are attached. This adjustment is filed for the purposes of section 302 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, as amended. For the purposes of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, as amended, this adjusted allocation is to be considered as an allocation included in the budget resolution, pursuant to section 427(b) of S. Con. Res. 13. DISCRETIONARY APPROPRIATIONS--APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE 302(a) ALLOCATION [In millions of dollars] ------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mr. SPRATT

Mr. SPRATT. Madam Speaker, Under section 423(a)(1) of S. Con. Res. 13, the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2010, I hereby submit an adjustment to the budget aggregates and allocations for the Committee on Appropriations for each of the fiscal years 2009 and 2010. Section 423(a)(1) of S. Con. Res. 13 permits the chairman of the Committee on the Budget to adjust discretionary spending limits for overseas deployments and other activities when these activities are so designated. Such a designation is included both in the conference report to accompany H.R. 2346, a bill making supplemental appropriations for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2009, and for other purposes, and in the bill H.R. 2847, Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010. DISCRETIONARY APPROPRIATIONS--APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE 302(A) ALLOCATION [In millions of dollars] ------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mr. SPRATT

Mr. SPRATT. Madam Speaker, under section 422(c) of S. Con. Res. 13, the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2010, I hereby submit a revision to the budget aggregates and allocations for the Committee on Appropriations for fiscal year 2010. A table is attached. This revision represents an adjustment for the purposes of sections 311 and 302 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, as amended. For the purposes of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, as amended, this revised allocation is to be considered as an allocation included in the budget resolution, pursuant to section 427(b) of S. Con. Res. 13.

Mr. SPRATT

Mr. SPRATT. Madam Speaker, under section 423(a)(1) of S. Con. Res. 13, the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2010, I hereby submit for printing in the Congressional Record a revised 302(a) allocation for the Committee on Appropriations for each of the fiscal years 2009 and 2010. Section 423(a)(1) of S. Con. Res. 13 permits the chairman of the Committee on the Budget to adjust discretionary spending limits for overseas deployments and other activities when these activities are so designated. Such a designation is included in H.R. 2346, a bill making supplemental appropriations for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2009, and for other purposes. A table is attached. DISCRETIONARY APPROPRIATIONS--APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE 302(a) ALLOCATION [In millions of dollars] ------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mr. SPRATT

Mr. SPRATT. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished majority leader, the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer). (Mr. HOYER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. SPRATT. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Boyd). (Mr. BOYD asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. SPRATT. Madam Speaker, how much time remains?

Mr. SPRATT. I yield myself 3\1/2\ minutes. Madam Speaker, we are here this morning to pick up where we left off yesterday, but really we are here to pick up the tab left over by the Bush administration. The Bush administration has left us with an economy in recession, a Nation $5 trillion deeper in debt, and a budget in deficit, deep deficit, $1.845 trillion according to the CBO. This is the hand dealt us. After 8 years of the Bush administration, we have to play the ball where it lies. After listening to the debate on the other side of the aisle, I think it would be helpful to start by pointing out what this budget is not. This is not a budget that increases spending. Total spending in 2009 will be $3.9 trillion. If we pass this resolution, total spending in 2010 will be $3.6 trillion. That's $300 billion less, not more. And all the initiatives we specify will be paid for. Despite what you have heard on the floor, this is not a budget resolution that increases taxes. It lowers taxes by $764 billion over 5 years and by $1.7 trillion over 10 years. It renews the middle-income tax cuts. It extends the estate tax at the 2009 level. This is not about tax increases. It's about tax decreases. This is not a budget resolution that increases the deficit. Far from it. By 2014, this budget resolution will reduce the deficit from $1.845 trillion this year to $525 billion next year. This is a deficit reduction budget. Let me also answer the extravagant claims made on the floor about how much debt accumulation will occur under this bill. Look at table 5 in your blue book here and look at the bottom line in debt net of financial assets. In the budget year, the first budget year, the debt net of financial assets is $8.072 trillion. In 2014 it's $10.642 trillion. Now I am not here to tout a $2.5 trillion addition to our national debt, although it pales in comparison to what happened under Mr. Bush. But I am simply saying this is better by far than anything you have heard characterized on the House floor. Now the budget is about more than numbers. It's about values, visions and investments. And what we have to tout and talk about in offering this budget resolution to the House is what it will do for health care in our country, and particularly for the 46 million people who do not have coverage; what it will do for the educational system of this country if we can tell every child in America, yes, you can, you can get a higher education, Pell Grants will help you do so; what it will do to help build energy independence and reduce the carbon emissions in this country. We can have energy innovation. All of this is provided for in this bill. And I would emphasize all of it is provided for in deficit-neutral reserve funds which do not add to the bottom line the debt of the United States. This is what we are presenting here. Now the deficit before us is a structural deficit. It's part cyclical, but mostly structural. It's built into the budget that we have to deal with. After 8 years of the Bush administration, there is a massive mismatch between revenues and spending in the budget that creates the huge deficits we have got today. We cannot turn this big battleship around overnight, but we can put it on the right path towards fiscal responsibility again. And that is exactly what this budget resolution does. That is why everybody in the House who believes in budget reduction, believes in fiscal responsibility, should vote for this budget resolution.

Mr. SPRATT. I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.