John Spratt

Mr. SPRATT

Mr. SPRATT. I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Andrews). (Mr. ANDREWS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. SPRATT. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Andrews). (Mr. ANDREWS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. SPRATT. Madam Speaker, I yield my remaining time to the distinguished Speaker of this House, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi).

Mr. SPRATT

Mr. SPRATT. Madam Speaker, I yield myself 5 minutes. In resolving the conference this year, we have had a hard hand to play. In the backwash of the Bush administration, we have had to struggle with an economy that is reeling, if not receding. The deficit is deep and the end is nowhere in sight. President Obama has responded to these challenges head-on, and we have followed his lead with a conference agreement that reflects most of his policies and most of his proposals. The President has recognized that we have not one but two deficits. The first is an economy running at about 7 percent below its full employment level, or $1 trillion below its potential. To move our economy closer to its capacity, the President signed into law a package of stimulus measures totaling $787 billion in tax cuts and spending increases. Here is what the Congressional Budget Office says in its analysis of the President's budget: ``The adoption of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and very aggressive actions by the Fed and the Treasury will help end the recession this fall.'' Let's hope CBO is right, because it's all but impossible to balance the budget when the economy is in recession. Nevertheless, this year's deficit constitutes 12.3 percent of our gross domestic product. At least two-thirds of that stems from the tax and spending policies undertaken by the Bush administration. Much of the enormous swell in this year's deficit is due to some extraordinary expenditures, such as the Troubled Asset Relief Program, and the consolidation of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae in the Federal budget, and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The good news is these expenditures are nonrecurring so long as the economy recovers. The President sent us a budget that will cut the deficit by two- thirds by 2013, from $1.752 trillion this year to $523 billion in 2014. $523 billion is roughly 3 percent of GDP in 2014, and in that sense, it is sustainable, because that's roughly the growth rate in 2014. The budget embodied in our resolution uses CBO projections, which are less optimistic. Yet it reduces the deficit to $523 billion in 2014, which is 3 percent of GDP, a bit less than the rate of growth in the economy for that year. Our budget can rightly be called a deficit reduction budget, because it lowers the deficit by $1.2 trillion over 5 years. On the other hand, our budget is not so committed to deficit reduction that it overrides or overlooks other needs. In fact, it takes on topics that previous budgets have found too tough to face, such as health care for millions of Americans who do not have insurance. On top of that it slows down defense spending with an increase of 4 percent and makes a moderate adjustment to non-defense discretionary spending, taking it a bit above this year. In spite of deficits, the President's budget and our conference report launch some bold initiatives to make our economy more productive and our people more productive. First, in higher education, with an increase in Pell Grants to $5,550; next in health care for the millions, 46 million by one estimate, who are uninsured; and, finally, in alternative energies to lessen our dependence on foreign oil and the depletion of our environment. As the Budget Committee, we do not make tax policies or write tax bills, but we do set revenue levels with certain assumptions in mind. We have provided revenues sufficient to renew the middle-income tax cuts adopted in 2001 and 2003. These include the 10 percent bracket, the child tax credit and the marital penalty relief bill. We have also assumed revenue levels that allow for the AMT to be patched for 3 years to keep it from burdening middle-income taxpayers for whom it was never intended. We have also assumed in our revenue estimates that the estate tax will be extended at the 2009 levels, leaving exemptions of $3.5 million per decedent in place, in force, in law. Our Republican colleagues nevertheless complained about our tax policies. Let me read from CBO's nonpartisan analysis of the President's budget, which is very much like our budget: ``Proposed changes in tax policy would reduce revenues by an estimated $1.7 trillion over the next 10 years.'' That's the CBO talking. The President's major initiatives--health care, energy, education, environment--are all implemented by way of reserve funds, and, let me stress, these reserve funds are all deficit-neutral. They are yet to be funded, and they only become operative to the extent that they are actually funded. The resolution before us sounds all of these themes, and with a few exceptions, supports the principles underlying the President's budget. Our resolution is laid out in the form of a 5-year budget using CBO's stricter scoring and CBO's projections of the economy. OMB has run out its budget over 10 years, but a 5-year budget is not at all unusual.

Mr. SPRATT. Madam Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 371, I call up the conference report to accompany the Senate concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 13) setting forth the congressional budget for the United States Government for fiscal year 2010, revising the appropriate budgetary levels for fiscal year 2009, and setting forth the appropriate budgetary levels for fiscal years 2011 through 2014, and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. SPRATT. I yield myself 1 additional minute. It's the customary time frame for budgeting, and we think that the 5- year budget is particularly appropriate in a year when no one can adequately foresee the future or can even foresee a few years over the horizon. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SPRATT. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur). (Ms. KAPTUR asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. SPRATT. Madam Speaker, I now yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. George Miller). (Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. SPRATT. Before yielding to Mr. Becerra of California, I would like simply to make two or three clarifications. You've heard it repeatedly said in this debate that this is a big spending bill, and it is, but it brings spending down from $3.9 trillion outlays this year to $3.6 trillion outlays next year--a reduction in spending of $300 billion. As for revenues, we don't raise revenues. We cut revenues by $764 billion over 5 years and by $1.7 trillion over 10 years. Those are the facts. That's the truth. I now recognize for 2 minutes the gentleman from California (Mr. Becerra).

Mr. SPRATT. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Andrews). (Mr. ANDREWS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. SPRATT. Madam Speaker, I yield 90 seconds to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Andrews). (Mr. ANDREWS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. SPRATT. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlelady from Pennsylvania (Ms. Schwartz).

Mr. SPRATT. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlelady from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee).

Mr. SPRATT. Madam Speaker, I yield 30 seconds to the gentlelady from Pennsylvania (Ms. Schwartz).

Mr. SPRATT. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. The gentleman from Texas said this was not the America he grew up in, but he grew up in Mr. Bush's America. During the 8 years of the Bush administration, the President came into office, we had a debt in this country of a little over $5 trillion. When he left office, the debt was a little over $12 trillion, and a deficit of $1.845 trillion. So a lot of last year's deficit becomes this year's debt. A lot of that debt was attributable to what happened in the last administration, too. He said it continually, we increase spending. Once again, in terms of outlays, this bill will decrease spending by $300 billion, from $3.9 trillion--which is way too much--to $3.6 trillion. That is a $300 billion reduction. As for taxes, raising taxes, this bill cuts taxes by $764 billion over 5 years and by $1.7 trillion over 10 years. Those are the facts. It can't be refuted. And that is why I think you can fairly and rightly say this is a deficit reduction bill which nevertheless accommodates values that we consider good for the country. We will pick up tomorrow, I suppose, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. SPRATT

Mr. SPRATT. I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and insert material relevant to consideration of S. Con. Res. 13.

Mr. SPRATT

Mr. SPRATT. Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

Mr. SPRATT

Mr. SPRATT. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania (Ms. Schwartz).

Mr. SPRATT. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer).

Mr. SPRATT

Mr. SPRATT. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 316, I call from the Speaker's table the Senate concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 13) setting forth the congressional budget for the United States Government for fiscal year 2010, revising the appropriate budgetary levels for fiscal year 2009, and setting forth the appropriate budgetary levels for fiscal years 2011 through 2014, and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. SPRATT. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 316, I move that the House insist upon its amendment to Senate Concurrent Resolution 13 and request a conference with the Senate thereon.

Mr. SPRATT. I yield the gentleman from Wisconsin, my ranking member, half of the allocated time, 30 minutes. I reserve the balance of my time so that Mr. Ryan can proceed.

Mr. SPRATT. Mr. Speaker, I have a motion at the desk.

Mr. SPRATT. Mr. Speaker, before leaving here for the spring vacation, the district work period, the House passed, by a significant majority, some 233 ``ayes,'' the resolution before us today, which we are moving to go to conference. With that resounding vote of support, we would like to see the conference concluded as soon as possible so that the House and Senate both may proceed with the consideration, floor debate, and passage of appropriation bills. I would, therefore, urge that all Members of the House, particularly those who supported this resolution originally, vote now to go to conference so that we can resolve our differences with the Senate and put behind us on a timely basis the budget resolution for 2010. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SPRATT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I would remind my friend and all Members of the House that President Obama came to office less than 100 days ago. And when he came, he found on the doorstep waiting for him a budget that was deep in deficit. By our calculation, the Bush administration is responsible for at least $1.3 trillion of the deficit we are now struggling with trying to resolve and work down in the budget before us, $1.3 trillion out of a projected deficit this year of $1.752 trillion. The economy, the worst since the Great Depression, happened on the watch of President Bush. He can't escape it. He was in office 8 years, and it happened in the midst of his tenure in office. The debt accumulation during that administration due to the deficits that have steadily racked up almost every year after the first 2 years of his administration, the deficit added over $5 trillion to the debt of the United States. And to deal with the wretched conditions in our economy and to keep this economy from slipping into a downward death spiral, the Bush administration undertook some aggressive actions, I think rightly so, such as the TARP, dealing with troubled asset programs. They undertook a number of these remedial actions at significant cost to the Federal Government. I don't fault them for that. They did what needed to be done in order to keep the economy from going deeper into the rut. But we are here living with the consequences of that. The major reason we have a deficit so swollen, $1.752 trillion, is not because of what's about to happen with the adoption of this budget. This budget works the deficit down. It's because of what did happen during 8 years of the Bush administration when we finally ended up with the worst recession since the Great Depression. So we are dealing with the aftermath of the Bush administration here today, and we have a budget which builds upon the budget sent to us by President Obama. It takes the deficit from where it is, $1.752 trillion this year, and reduces it to $586 billion within 4 years. I would like to see it go further, beyond that. But we have given the House and the Congress a 5-year budget that will put us on a path downward from $1.7 trillion, $1.8 trillion to $586 billion by 2013 and perhaps even better by 2014. I think we should go further. We have got to go further. I will be the first to acknowledge that when you look at OMB's projections of the 10 years lying ahead of us, in the second 5-year period of that 10-year span, in that period of time the deficit starts going back up again. We don't want that to happen. But we can best make the policy that will address that second 5-year period when we are out of this economy, when we are standing on firmer ground than we are today and we know a bit more about the future of the economy and the budget than we do at this point in time. In the meantime, what we are doing is prescribing over the next 5 years a budget that will go down, down, down, from $1.752 trillion to $586 billion. I say that is a fiscally responsible budget. So did the House. When this measure was before us, before we left for the Easter- Passover break, when this measure was before us, the concurrent resolution, 233 Members of the House voted to pass our resolution, our budget resolution which now comes before us on a motion to go to conference. Mr. Ryan presented, or his side presented, the Republicans presented two budget alternatives. One received 137 votes. 137 votes, that is 80 votes less than a majority, with 293 noes. The other received 111 votes. We received 233 votes. I think the House has spoken and spoken resoundingly. They listened to the debate, then they read the materials we put out, they decided this is a better way to go. This is a responsible budget because it takes us over the foreseeable future to a much, much lower budget, something we can do, because this year's budget is swollen. $1.7 trillion is totally unsustainable, totally intolerable, but it is swollen by actions that have been taken that are countercyclical in order to get this economy out of the rut it is in right here today. Once you leave those nonrecurring expenditures out, you can credibly say that we can get from where we are to a deficit in the mid-500s in a 4-year period of time. Now, you are going to hear a lot of talk about tax cuts. But read the committee report and you will see in short summary exactly some of the highlights and features of this particular bill. If you read the very last page, you will see that our budget resolution calls for reducing revenues, for tax cuts. Provided under the CBO baseline forecast, this resolution provides $613 billion over the first 5 years and $1.48 trillion in total tax reductions. We have been taunted in the past by those saying that when we came to power we wouldn't continue the middle income tax cuts; we would allow them to expire on December 31, 2010, as they are prescribed to expire. But we protect those tax cuts. The marital penalty, mitigation provisions in the marital penalty relief bill, the 10 percent bracket, which is a big tax cut for many working Americans, the child tax credit, all of these we preserve and extend in our particular bill, including the estate tax. We simply say with respect to the estate tax, just leave it in place as it is in 2010, that is, with a $3.5 million per decedent exemption, $7 million for a couple. All of these things are in the package before us. That is why it received a resounding vote of support from the House just a few weeks ago and why it is a better choice and why we need now to finish the work we began, go on to conference and adopt a concurrent budget resolution which will be the ruling law for the coming fiscal year. I reserve the balance of my time.