October 9, 1998 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD Ð SENATE S12217 already indicated he will veto the mod- But by failing to account for them THE PROCLAMATION OF SEPTEM- est tax-relief bill approved by the when he submitted his original budget BER 18, 1998 AS POW/MIA REC- House, and we do not have the votes to in February, President Clinton was OGNITION DAY FOR THE STATE reach the two-thirds majority that it able to inflate spending on other pro- OF NEVADA would take to override a veto. So dis- grams and claim that his budget still · Mr. REID. Mr. President, recently, cussion of tax relief is really academic fell within the constraints of last Governor Miller of Nevada, in support this year. year's budget agreement. Now, the of the National League of Families of Aside from tax relief, the surplus President wants all of this declared American Prisoners and Missing in gives us a chance to pay down the na- emergency spending so that it does not Southeast Asia, proclaimed September tional debt. Less federal borrowing have to be offset elsewhere in the budg- 18, 1998 as POW/MIA Recognition Day frees up funds for businesses and con- et. The reality is that he wants to raid in the state of Nevada. I am pleased to sumers, and as I indicated earlier in the Social Security surplus to pay for declare before the Senate my strong my remarks, that has already led to these other things. support for this proclamation. lower interest rates. Further reduc- Many Americans will ask what hap- The proclamation reads as follows: tions in the debt would continue that pened to the pledge President Clinton Whereas today there are 2,118 Americans virtuous cycle. Moreover, it seems to made in his State of the Union Address still missing and unaccounted for from me that we have a moral obligation to earlier this year. That was when he Southeast Asia, including 3 from the State of relieve our children and grandchildren looked the American people squarely Nevada, and their families, friends, and fel- of some of the burden of paying off the in the eye and said: low veterans still endure uncertainty con- cerning their fate; and debt that our generation has accrued. I propose that we reserve 100 percent of the Another option is to use the budget Whereas we as Americans believe that free- surplusÐthat is every penny of any surplusÐ dom is precious because it has been won and surplus for Social Security. We all rec- until we have taken all the necessary meas- preserved for all at a very great cost; and ognize the huge costs that will be asso- ures to strengthen the Social Security sys- Whereas few Americans can more fully ap- ciated with getting back to what most tem for the 21st century. preciate the value of liberty and self-govern- people thought Social Security was Eight months have passed, and the ment than those Americans who were in- supposed to beÐa safe and secure ac- President has yet to send us any plan terned in enemy prison camps as POWs and those who remain missing in action; and count where their contributions could to protect Social Security. Worse yet, be deposited and where they could grow Whereas the courage, commitment, and de- while publicly claiming to try to pro- votion to duty demonstrated by those serv- to produce a nest egg for retirement. tect the surplus for Social Security, he icemen and women who risked their lives for Applying the budget surplus toward has already been out drawing it down our sake has moved the hearts of all Nevad- those transition costs will make it for other programs. The House-ap- ans; and much easier to make the required proved tax-relief bill that the Presi- Whereas, their dignity, faith, and valor re- minds us of the allegiance we owe to our na- changes and ensure that Social Secu- dent has criticized would use only $6.6 rity is there for our children and tion and its defenders as well as the compas- billion of the budget surplus for tax re- sion we owe to those families of the MIAs grandchildren. lief next year. That compares to the $20 And of course, the surplus we have in who daily demonstrate heroic courage and billion or more of the surplus that the fortitude in the face of uncertainty; the unified federal budget really exists President wants to spend on other pro- Now, therefore, I, Bob Miller, Governor of only as a result of the surplus that So- grams. the State of Nevada, do hereby proclaim Sep- cial Security generates anyway. Take If it is wrong to use part of the sur- tember 18, 1998, as POW/MIA Recognition Social Security out of the calculation Day. plus for tax relief, is it not wrong to and the federal budget would show not Mr. President, it is of paramount impor- spend at least three times as much on a surplus of $70 billion, but a deficit tance that we continue to demand a full ac- government programs? It seems to me counting of our servicemen and women in somewhere in the range of $30 billion. that this is just another example of the foreign countries, in full respect and ac- Mr. President, there is some merit in knowledgment of their unremitting courage each of these ideas: tax relief, debt re- President trying to have it both ways. Mr. President, it is too bad we did and dedication in placing their lives on the payment, and Social Security reform. line as members of the United States Armed The problem is, before we can even not achieve any consensus about what Forces. begin the debate about which of these to do with the budget surplus this year, The importance of this issue cannot be options is best, the budget surplus is because, by default, as of October 1, overstated. The sacrifices of these brave men being steadily frittered away. any surplus automatically went to re- and women must never be forgotten, and we Earlier this year, Congress, at the duce the national debt. If we are really must continue to strive to account for every one of our missing service members. A full Clinton administration's behest, dipped serious about protecting Social Secu- rity, as to future surpluses, we should accounting of our missing Americans is abso- into the surplus, spending about $6 bil- lutely essential, not only for our armed serv- lion on a variety of programs. Within wall off the Social Security surplus so ices personnel but for their families and our the next day or two, action is expected that it cannot be spent on other pro- nation. Similarly, we must see that they, on another Clinton request to draw gramsÐnot by the President, not by like all our other veterans, are forever recog- down the surplus by at least another Congress. nized for the duty they performed so val- $14 billionÐwith not a dime going to The Senator from Texas, Senator iantly when our country needed them. Social Security. We are talking about GRAMM, has one idea about how to do It is with these convictions that I support that. As I understand it, funds would be this proclamation, establishing a Recogni- the President's request to spend bil- tion Day for those who so fully deserve our invested in genuine assets, not just lions of dollars of the surplus on Bos- reciprocal dedication.· nia, embassy security, farm aid, and government IOUs, under the super- f the Year 2000 computer problem. vision of the Federal Reserve. The Of course, funding requirements for money would be off-limits to Congress HONORING ALEXANDER C. Bosnia and these other needs were cer- and the President, and when Congress SCHLEHR tainly foreseeable and could have been and the President agree on a plan to · Mr. D'AMATO. Mr. President, I rise accounted for when the President sent save Social Security, it could be put to to pay tribute to the young men and his budget to Congress eight months use for the purpose for which it was women that served bravely in the ago. After all, troops have been de- collected. United States military during WWI, ployed in Bosnia since 1995, and last In addition to protecting the Social and to one veteran in particular, Alex- year, the President extended their de- Security surplus, in my opinion, we ander C. Schlehr. Mr. Schlehr, of Buf- ployment there indefinitely. The need should provide broad-based tax relief to falo, NY, is one of only 1,800 living vet- to beef up embassy security was the American people with any other erans of this war. He courageously brought up months ago, and we have surplus. It is, after all, their hard work lived through the perils of European known about the Year 2000 computer and their tax payments that have cre- trench warfare and served his country problem for some time. None of these ated the surplus we enjoy today. We honorably. things should have come as a surprise ought to return any excess revenue to Due to his strong desire to assist his to the White House or anyone else. the people who earned it and paid it.· country in the war effort, Alexander S12218 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD Ð SENATE October 9, 1998 enlisted in the army at the young age Larry Doby, and the essential fairness Dodgers pitching coach Red Adams, who of 19. Immediately, he was incor- of our American spirit, that at age 94, fashioned him into the durable and skillful porated into 59th Pioneer Infantry, Sam Lacy was recognized for his pitcher who would win 15 or more games 12 later to be known as the Corps of Engi- unique contribution to journalism and times and finish his career ranked fifth all- time with 3,574 strikeouts.