Christopher Shays

Mr. SHAYS

Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word. Mr. Chairman, I would like to make a brief statement and then enter into a colloquy with the gentleman from New Mexico (Mr. Skeen) and the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro). In 1999, we saw the nearly complete disappearance of lobsters in Western Long Island Sound and the destruction of our commercial lobster fishery. Many of the men and women who depend on this industry are faced with having to sell their boats, traps, and other equipment; and many of them will soon lose their homes, as well. Commerce Secretary Daley has already declared the Sound a commercial beneficiary failure under the Magnuson-Stevens Act, paving the way for emergency supplemental funding. According to the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, the State as a whole saw an 81 percent decline in pounds of lobster caught in the fall of 1999. The towns of Greenwich and the City of Stanford, the western-most part of Connecticut, showed declines greater than 99 percent. This is not merely a bad year; it is a disappearance of a species. It is a disaster no one anticipated and, therefore, no one prepared for. Researchers from Connecticut and New York, working with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, have indicated a parasite is responsible for the die-off but have not been able to identify why the parasite is suddenly flourishing. I am grateful the legislation being considered today includes $8.6 million for additional research and a revolving fund to help the lobstermen refinance their business obligations. The committee's recognition of this tragedy is important. My colleague, the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro), and I rise today to address the critical need for aid to the individuals in communities directly affected by this unexplained disaster, like the citrus growers for whom the Committee on Appropriations has designated $40 million to compensate for lost production due to the unexpected breakout of citrus canker. The Long Island Sound lobstermen deserve our help. Mr. Chairman, I yield to my colleague, the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro).

Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of this amendment. David Sanes Rodriguez was killed as a Navy employee, a civilian, a Puerto Rican, but a civilian of the Navy. He was killed on sight by a misfiring 9 miles from any civilians. Our sailor, our pilots are going to be in extreme danger if they are not allowed to have a practice range. John McCain and so many others before they went off to battle practiced right here, and they needed that practice.

Mr. SHAYS

Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New Hampshire (Mr. Sununu).

Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Chairman, if there is no objection, we have 1\1/2\ minutes of our time we can yield to the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Clyburn) and allow him to distribute it.

Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Chairman, my understanding is we have 4\1/2\ minutes remaining?

Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Chairman, might I clarify, we do have the right to close, is that correct? We may end up having 1 minute or 1\1/2\ minutes that we will be able to yield over. We will go through our speakers and see how much time we do have.

Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to this budget because it taxes too much, spends too much, and does not pay down enough debt. Mr. Chairman, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Kasich), the distinguished chairman of the Committee on the Budget.

Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Montana (Mr. Hill).

Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Ryan). (Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Chairman, the hour is late. But on this side of the aisle, there are some of us who remember 1989 and the first budget of the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Kasich). He had 29 Members who supported him. But he never gave up. He never gave up. He did it in such a fresh way. This is the last budget of the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Kasich). What a legacy he has left us. What a legacy he has left his wife and his daughters, Emma and Reese. The gentleman from Ohio dealt with a lot of numbers, but numbers were never important to him. It was people, the friends he has here, the people he cares about in this country. I know the gentleman from Ohio has a dream to transfer the power and the money and the influence out of Washington back home to local communities. I think he set us on our way. We love the gentleman from Ohio a lot.

Mr. SHAYS

Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Green), a member of the Committee on Banking and Financial Services and the Committee on Science.

Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Sweeney), a member of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, the Committee on Banking and Financial Services, and the Committee on Small Business.

Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Chairman, only in Washington when you cut taxes by $200 billion in a $10 trillion revenue stream would people call it irresponsible. Mr. Chairman, I yield the remainder of the time to the gentleman from New Hampshire (Mr. Sununu).

Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Herger).

Mr. SHAYS. So these are their own words?

Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Chambliss), the vice chairman of the Committee on Budget.

Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Chairman, our budget protects 100 percent of the Social Security surplus, 100 percent. It does it in the next year's budget just as it is doing in this year's budget just as we did not spend any Social Security money last year. It strengthens Medicare with prescription drugs. We set aside $40 billion in the next 5 years. It retires debt, $1 trillion in the next 5 years. We have already retired $302 billion. It promotes tax fairness for families, farmers, and seniors. The GOP tax plan ends the marriage penalty, repeals Social Security earnings limit, reduces the death tax, expands educational savings accounts, increases health care deductibility, promotes tax breaks for poor communities, and strengthens private pension plans. We set aside $200 billion in the next 5 years, just 2 percent of the budget in the next 5 years. The Clinton plan came in with $96 billion of gross increases in taxes. The Republicans had zero. We do not have any taxes. The Clinton plan increases taxes $10 billion in the next year. We provide tax relief of $10 billion in the year. The Republican tax relief plan, over the next 5 years, $200 billion for the marriage penalty, the death tax, the educational savings account, health care deductibility, the community renewal, and pension reform. We set aside $50 billion in potential update. We want to make sure it is locked up for paying down debt or tax relief. We do not want it spent by the Democrats on the other side of the aisle.

Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Ryan).

Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Nussle), a member of the Committee on the Budget as well as the Committee on Ways and Means.

Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New Hampshire (Mr. Sununu), a distinguished member of the House Committee on the Budget and the Committee on Appropriations.

Mr. SHAYS. Mr Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Ryan).

Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Chairman, if the gentleman will yield, I would ask the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Ryan) a question. Mr. Chairman, what the gentleman is reading, the quote, is the footnotes in their own documents?

Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time. The minority leader's speech today was a speech taken out from something he said 5 or 6 years ago, and the speech I just heard from the distinguished ranking member of the Committee on the Budget reminds me of straining out gnats and swallowing camels. We set aside $200 billion for tax cuts. Now, we are told it is irresponsible. We are told it is outrageous. We are told it is something we cannot afford. The fact is, in the next 5 years we are going to raise $10 trillion in revenues, and we are going to return to the American people $200 billion. The tax cut ends the marriage penalty. A good number of Democrats voted for that. The tax cut repeals Social Security earnings limit. All Democrats voted for that. The next tax cut, which a good number of Democrats voted for, reduces the death penalty. We are expanding educational savings accounts. We are increasing health care deductibility. We are providing tax breaks for poor communities, and we are strengthening private pension plans. Mr. Speaker, $200 billion out of $10 trillion, a 2 percent tax cut. But our colleagues on the other side of the aisle do not even want to return 2 percent. Mr. Speaker, we protect Social Security. Last year was the first year since 1960 that a Congress did not spend Social Security reserves. We protect it in this budget we are in, and we protect it in the budget we are now voting on. We are strengthening Medicare. We are setting aside $40 billion for prescription drugs, $40 billion. That is what we are setting aside, and yet the minority leader said we were cutting Medicare. We retire the public debt. Mr. Speaker, $1 trillion of public debt in the next 5 years, $1 trillion. It never happened under Democrat rule. We are doing it now, and it is in this bill. We are providing that tax fairness for families. It is not just returning revenue to the American people, but dealing with fairness. Couples should not have to pay taxes when they get married; seniors should not have to lose Social Security when they work. And we are restoring Americans defense; we are putting more money in education, science, and health. We are doing exactly what we should do. Now, we are going to have 5 amendments come up and we are going to oppose 4 of them. We are going to oppose them because they do not meet these tests. We are going to protect Social Security; and if it does not do that, we will oppose that. We want Medicare prescriptions, $40 billion. If it is not there, we are going to oppose it. We want to retire debt. We have already retired $302 billion of debt. We are going to promote tax fairness, which on the other side of the aisle they seem to be opposed to. We are going to restore America's defense, and we are going to strengthen and support education and science. That is what we are going to do in our budget, and we are determined to succeed.

Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Hoekstra), a member of the Committee on the Budget and a member of the Committee on Education and the Workforce.

Mr. SHAYS

Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on H. Con. Res. 290, the concurrent resolution just agreed to.