E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States th of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 105 CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION Vol. 143 WASHINGTON, MONDAY, JULY 28, 1997 No. 108 House of Representatives The House met at 12:30 p.m. and was the majority and minority leaders for Given the failure of the House to called to order by the Speaker pro tem- morning hour debates. The Chair will enact enforcement legislation, it is pore (Mr. GUTKNECHT). alternate recognition between the par- now more important than ever to keep f ties, with each party limited to not to our eyes on the goal of balancing the exceed 30 minutes, and each Member budget and finishing the job. Achieving DESIGNATION OF SPEAKER PRO except the majority leader, the minor- this goal can only happen one step at a TEMPORE ity leader, or the minority whip lim- time. The first step should be to reduce The SPEAKER pro tempore laid be- ited to not to exceed 5 minutes. spending by reforming entitlement pro- fore the House the following commu- The Chair recognizes the gentleman grams. nication from the Speaker: from Indiana [Mr. VISCLOSKY] for 5 minutes. With America's population aging and WASHINGTON, DC, f people living longer, the number of July 28, 1997. beneficiaries in programs such as Medi- I hereby designate the Honorable GIL BALANCING THE BUDGET care is growing much faster than the GUTKNECHT to act as Speaker pro tempore on working population. For this reason, this day. Mr. VISCLOSKY. Mr. Speaker, the NEWT GINGRICH, most important thing that we can do Medicare and other entitlement pro- Speaker of the House of Representatives. for our children and their children is to grams are projected to run out of f balance the Federal budget. Unfortu- money early in the next century unless nately, I fear that we will snatch de- we make basic reforms to these pro- MESSAGE FROM THE SENATE feat from the jaws of victory by enact- grams right now. A message from the Senate by Ms. ing expensive new tax cuts before the Secondly, if no changes are made to McDevitt, one of its clerks, announced budget is actually balanced. Medicare and other spending programs, Mr. Speaker, it is clear to me that that the Senate had passed bills and a all the progress we have made in reduc- the best tax cut we can give to the concurrent resolution of the following ing the deficit will be in vain. titles, in which the concurrence of the American people is to balance the Fed- eral budget. It has been shown that by It should also be pointed out that the House is requested: balancing the budget we can stimulate enormous growth of entitlement spend- S. 833. An act to designate the Federal economic growth and reduce interest ing is threatening the discretionary building courthouse at Public Square and programs that allow us to invest in the Superior Avenue in Cleveland, Ohio, as the rates on everything from home mort- ``Howard M. Metzenbaum United States gages to car loans. Keeping these con- future of this country. Estimates from Courthouse''; siderations in mind, I firmly believe the Congressional Budget Office show S. 1000. An act to designate the United that we must resist the destructive that by the year 2002 mandatory spend- States courthouse at 500 State Avenue in idea of granting tax cuts at this time. ing will consume 70 percent of the Fed- Kansas City, Kansas, as the ``Robert J. Dole There is little question that we have eral budget. United States Courthouse''; made tremendous progress in reducing We depend on discretionary programs S. 1043. An act to designate the United the deficit in the past 5 years. From a States courthouse under construction at the for building roads, putting more police record high of $290 billion in 1992, pro- officers on the street, and making our corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Clark Av- jections cited last week indicate that enue in Las Vegas, Nevada, as the ``Lloyd D. economy more productive. We must use George United States Courthouse''; and the deficit may fall below $45 billion by the opportunity before us to slow the S. Con. Res. 43. Concurrent resolution urg- the end of this year. growth of mandatory spending and Unfortunately, this body missed a ing the United States Trade Representative achieve a more sustainable balance. immediately to take all appropriate action golden opportunity last week to make with regards to Mexico's imposition of anti- sure that we would finally reach a bal- While cutting spending is the first dumping duties on United States high fruc- anced budget by the year 2002. By re- step in balancing the budget, I believe tose corn syrup. jecting a commonsense measure that we will take a giant leap backward if f would have applied enforcement proce- we compound our current fiscal prob- dures to the budget resolution, both lems by granting significant new tax MORNING HOUR DEBATES parties put other interests above that cuts that will increase the deficit. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursu- of balancing the budget. This raises se- Studies show that the cost of the tax ant to the order of the House of Janu- rious questions about a real willingness bill approved by the House on June 26 ary 21, 1997, the Chair will now recog- to make the tough choices needed to is heavily backloaded, hiding the bill's nize Members from lists submitted by get us to a balanced budget. true cost and threatening to unbalance b This symbol represents the time of day during the House proceedings, e.g., b 1407 is 2:07 p.m. Matter set in this typeface indicates words inserted or appended, rather than spoken, by a Member of the House on the floor. H5829 H5830 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD Ð HOUSE July 28, 1997 the budget shortly after it is designed spectrum. Again, the broadcasters will for all should be involved. The govern- to be balanced. invest billions of dollars to deliver free ment wins because its coffers will be It is clear to me that many Members TV over these frequencies. Individual filled with analog action proceeds and of this body are only interested in stations will also have to convert at a fees from supplemental digital serv- using the balanced budget debate as a cost of up to $20 million each. ices. Those who care about free, over- pretense to grant expensive new tax Now, obviously, this is a huge cost, the-air broadcasting win because tele- cuts. We are now so close to finally bal- particularly for most broadcasters in vision will not be interrupted in the ancing the budget, it makes absolutely small- and medium-sized markets like transition from analog to digital. no sense to me to start moving in the many in my home State of Florida, Broadcasters win because they will re- opposite direction with tax measures where they have assets under $10 mil- main competitive in the new informa- that will drive up the deficit. lion. However, there are many who tion age. But above all, consumers win If we would simply pass the spending want broadcasters to give up the old with continued free access to news and reforms called for by this year's budget analog spectrum, spend billions of dol- information and more competition resolution, and do no harm by enacting lars on new equipment to convert to among information and entertainment new tax cuts, we would balance the digital TV, and then continue to de- providers. budget before the end of the century liver free TV and pay for the digital The up-front auction of the digital and achieve a surplus of at least $20 bil- spectrum all together. Well, it cannot spectrum could be a roadblock to the lion in the year 2002. This, I believe, is be done. new era of communications. Combined the wisest course of action because it Mr. Speaker, heaping auction costs with other technologies, digital TV allows us to invest for the future needs on top of this transition cost will make will yield a single box sitting in our of this country, and ensure that we do it virtually impossible for many local living rooms; one device functioning as not produce a budget that is a 1-year broadcasters to provide free, over-the- our TV, telephone, computer, modem, wonder, balancing in the year 2002, but air programming in the digitized world. radio, and VCR. Mr. Speaker, let us not becoming unbalanced shortly there- It does not take a genius to figure out let misguided policies stand in the way after. that if enough broadcasters are forced of progress. out of these auctions by these costs, Mr. Speaker, now more than ever it f is imperative that Members of both consumers will have fewer choices in parties, along with the President, come their viewing options. RECESS Mr. Speaker, I do not agree with together in a unified effort. We must The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursu- take this opportunity to pass meaning- those advocating the up-front auction of the digital spectrum loaned to ant to clause 12 of rule I, the Chair de- ful entitlement reform, hold off on clares the House in recess until 2 p.m. granting expensive tax cuts until we broadcasters. These advocates should look at this issue in the proper con- Accordingly (at 12 o'clock and 42 can afford them, and keep our promise text. In the 1980's, the government and minutes p.m.), the House stood in re- to balance the budget once and for all.