C. Young

Mr. YOUNG of Florida

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the requisite number of words. Mr. Chairman, I rise to compliment the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi) for her demonstrated ability to organize a very effective filibuster which we have enjoyed the last couple of hours. But it is essential that we get on with the consideration of this bill. I would ask for a ``no'' vote on the amendment of the gentlewoman.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time, and I want to rise in support of the Toomey amendment. I agree with some of the things the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey) said; that we are transferring from the Treasury to the Treasury. But as the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Toomey) points out, if we do not do something like that, that $4 billion is liable to be spent somewhere. When there is money on the table, it is easy to try to find a way to spend it. The problem that we have is not so much the discretionary spending, in order to balance these budgets, in order to bring down the debt. For 1998 we had a $51 billion paydown in the debt; in 1999 we had an $88.6 billion paydown; and in the year 2000 we estimate to have $157 billion paydown of the public debt. That is good. And that all happened without a lot of fanfare. But what the Toomey amendment says is that we are going to do it. It is a symbolic statement. It tells the American taxpayer that we intend to continue to pay down the debt. As I said, balancing the budget, having a surplus, is what makes it possible for us to pay down the debt. But let me tell my colleagues where the problem comes from in spending. It is not discretionary. Since 1995, mandatory spending, something that the Committee on Appropriations has no jurisdiction over whatsoever, mandatory spending has increased nearly $214 billion; Social Security increased $70 billion. That is a mandatory entitlement. Medicare increased $42.6 billion. Medicaid increased $27 billion. Agriculture programs increased $21 billion. Deposit insurance increased $16.5 billion. Federal employment retirement programs increased $11.8 billion. Supplemental security income increased $7 billion. Veterans benefits and services increased by $6.4 billion. Since enactment of TEA-21, funding for highways and transit programs will increase by $37.1 billion through fiscal year 2002. Aviation programs will increase $10 billion over the next three years. These last two are now, in effect, treated as mandatory programs. These are mandatory programs. And every time that Congress creates an additional mandatory spending program, we take away the ability of the Appropriations Committee to get a handle on the spending. Our committee has a very small part of the government spending programs. We have only the discretionary programs, but we need to pay a lot more attention to mandatory spending. So I want to compliment my friend, the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Toomey). If it does not do anything else, as the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey) has suggested, this says to the American taxpayer that we intend to pay down the national debt in a time of prosperity.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from Puerto Rico (Mr. Romero-Barcelo). (Mr. ROMERO-BARCELO asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Gilman), chairman of the Committee on International Relations. (Mr. GILMAN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Callahan).

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Ganske).

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I yield 5 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Texas (Mr. Paul). (Mr. PAUL asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Buyer), chairman of the Subcommittee on Military Personnel of the Committee on Armed Services.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Callahan), the chairman of the Subcommittee on Foreign Operations, Export Financing and Related Programs. (Mr. CALLAHAN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent that the remainder of title III be considered as read, printed in the Record and open to amendment at any point.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. If the gentleman withdraws the amendment, then I will not be required to raise the point of order.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I reserve a point of order on the gentleman's amendment.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. If the gentleman will yield further, I will be specific to this point, that yesterday morning the committee received a request from the administration to add $40 million for this effort. That was just too late. You just cannot send an amendment to your supplemental that late in the game. So the best that I can offer is that we will do our very best to deal with the subject when we go to conference with the other body. We basically support the program, but the Committee on Appropriations, as the gentleman knows because he is a valued member of that committee, tries to be thorough, and we try to understand exactly what it is that we are doing. That is the approach we will bring to the conference on this subject.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. I understand the concerns of the gentleman from Illinois. While I cannot make any promises, I will bring this concern to the attention of the conferees.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I reserve a point of order on the gentleman's amendment.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word. Mr. Chairman, a little over an hour ago, I announced that it was my intention to have our final votes of the evening at approximately 10 o'clock. But we have used up nearly half an hour of that time in just motions to strike the last word. So the approximately 10 o'clock will be a little bit beyond 10 o'clock, with our intention to go through the Kasich amendment this evening before the committee rises. I am hoping we can expedite and get that done. But we will continue to go until we complete the Kasich amendment, and then we will have the final votes for the evening.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I reserve a point of order on the gentleman's amendment.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. If the gentleman will continue to yield, I can assure him that we will do the very best we can to do what is right.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I thank him for bringing this matter before the House. I know there is a great concern on this issue, and I would appreciate any further information that the gentleman could develop as we go through the process on this supplemental. I can guaranty the gentleman that we will look very closely at the issue. We understand the importance, we appreciate the work that the gentleman has done at this point, and we ask him to provide us with additional information so that we can make a proper judgment.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding. I can assure the gentleman that we will be happy to work with him as we go through the balance of the legislative process on this bill and do the best that we can to accommodate him within the confines of this particular legislation.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent that the remainder of the bill through page 74, line 22 be considered as read, printed in the Record, and open to amendment at any point.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me the time. Mr. Speaker, unlike my friend and colleague, the previous speaker, I am going to support this rule. We need to get this rule passed. We need to get this supplemental on the floor, and we need to get it down to the other body so that then our friend and colleague, Senator Stevens, can work his magic and get us a supplemental appropriations bill. Now, time is not on our side in the case of the supplemental or our entire appropriations process. But let me just mention time in one regard. American soldiers are in Kosovo today. Americans are involved in a situation in Kosovo where we are putting up most of the assets. Many of our European allies are not responding to us with the support that they had promised to provide in Kosovo. It is the humble opinion of this Member that the Kosovo experience is not going to be a positive one for the United States. And I hate to say that, because our troops do such a good job. But in order to eliminate the hatred and stop the killing that is taking place between not the organized groups in Kosovo but just the people themselves, neighbor to neighbor, the hate, the killing, we would have to put a soldier on every street corner in every city and town and hamlet in Kosovo. And, obviously, we cannot muster that kind of a major operation. But the problem with Kosovo is that the money is already being spent. It is committed. The President deployed troops. The money is spent. Now, where did the money come from? The money came from the fourth quarter operations and maintenance accounts of all of the military services. That means, if we do not replace this money, whether we like it or not, the fourth quarter training exercises of the United States military will have to stand down, many of them, because their fourth quarter money has already been spent. Now, look at the calendar that I show here. All of this red is the fiscal year that has already gone by. This is today, March 29. This part of the fiscal year is gone. If we look closely at the blue colors on this chart, those are colors that the Congress will be in recess for the political conventions this summer for the work periods back home in our districts at 4th of July and other times of the year. And so, the white numbers are the only really working days left to get this work done. We have got to get this supplemental over to the Senate where Senator Stevens, as I said, can work his magic. This will help us begin to replace this money for the military. Whether we like it or not, the President has already spent the money. When we pass this rule, we can deal with some of the other issues we will hear on the floor today. We will deal with a number of the issues that my friend, the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey), raised. Some of them are very legitimate, and they should be considered and they should be debated. But we have got to move along. We need to adopt this rule this morning and get on to the consideration of this bill.