E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States th of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 106 CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION Vol. 145 WASHINGTON, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 1999 No. 165 House of Representatives The House met at noon. REVISED NOTICEÐNOVEMBER 17, 1999 If the 106th Congress, 1st Session, adjourns sine die on or before November 18, 1999, a final issue of the Congressional Record for the 106th Congress, 1st Session, will be published on December 3, 1999, in order to permit Members to revise and extend their remarks. All material for insertion must be signed by the Member and delivered to the respective offices of the Official Reporters of Debates (Room HT±60 or S±123 of the Capitol), Monday through Friday, between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. through December 1. The final issue will be dated December 3, 1999, and will be delivered on Monday, December 6, 1999. 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DiMARIO, Public Printer. 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. H12893 . VerDate 29-OCT-99 02:01 Nov 20, 1999 Jkt 079060 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 7634 Sfmt 8633 E:\CR\FM\A19NO7.000 pfrm02 PsN: H19PT1 H12894 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD Ð HOUSE November 19, 1999 The Reverend Dr. Ronald F. Chris- tleman from Illinois (Mr. HASTERT) is ness by paying down debt while giving tian, Chaplain, Lutheran Social Serv- recognized for 5 minutes. tax relief to American families. ices, Fairfax, VA, offered the following Mr. HASTERT. Mr. Speaker, as the We have made progress in all four prayer: first session of the 106th Congress con- areas. Our budget stopped the raid on Almighty God, we speak our words of cludes, I think it is proper to give this Social Security for the first time in 30 gratitude from hearts that sense Your legislative body my thoughts on what years. Why do we care so much about goodness. the House has accomplished this year protecting Social Security and the sur- You open Your hand and You satisfy and what is left to accomplish next plus? Let me give you three reasons. the desire of every living thing, and so year. Together we have enjoyed many First, it helps to strengthen the So- we raise our thankful song, for again victories and some disappointments. cial Security system far into the next the fall harvest has provided us with When I became Speaker last January, century. That means baby-boomers can granaries that are overflowing. the House needed some serious work. have the peace of mind that Social Se- The good Earth has produced bounti- The distrust and bitterness and ramp- curity will be there for them. ful fruits and seeds, and we are all ant partisanship of both parties threat- Second, when we protect the Social blessed because of it. ened to undermine the public support Security surplus, we also pay down the So this day we are a chorus of Your of this House. We had Members who Nation's debt. Think about how good grateful recipients, and we sing as so would not even talk to each other, let you feel when you pay off your home many have sung through the years. alone work with one another. mortgage or your car loan. When we Now thank we all our God with heart Given that situation, last January in take responsibilities for our Nation's and hands and voices. this very spot I said solutions to prob- debt, we ease the crippling burden of Amen. lems cannot be found in a pool of bit- our debt on our children and our grand- f terness. Solutions can be found in an children. Our budget discipline has al- environment in which we trust one an- lowed our government to make the THE JOURNAL other, and we trust one another's word, largest debt reduction payment in the The SPEAKER. The Chair has exam- and where we generate heat and pas- history of this Nation. ined the Journal of the last day's pro- sion, but where we recognize that each Third, when we protect the Social Se- ceedings and announces to the House Member is equally important to our curity surplus, we stop the govern- his approval thereof. overall mission of improving the life of ment's spending spree. We have torn up Pursuant to clause 1, rule I, the Jour- America's people. the government credit card and said nal stands approved. We have made progress in putting that now it is time for a new era of fis- f that bitterness behind us, because we cal responsibility. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE decided to go to work. Members of the Retirement security also includes minority cosponsored six out of the ten vital programs like Medicare, and I am The SPEAKER. Will the gentleman top bills introduced by the majority. pleased that we were able to take steps from Indiana (Mr. PEASE) come forward Our greatest achievements this year to restore vital funding for Medicare. and lead the House in the Pledge of Al- had bipartisan support: The budget bill The health care bureaucrats misinter- legiance. that we just passed, the Social Secu- preted the Balanced Budget Act guide- Mr. PEASE led the Pledge of Alle- rity lockbox bill, the appropriations lines and began slashing Medicare re- giance as follows: bills, the missile defense bill, the Edu- imbursements to nursing homes, hos- I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the cation Flexibility bill and the Finan- pitals, and other health care agencies. United States of America, and to the Repub- cial Services Modernization Act. Both We believe that Medicare must be lic for which it stands, one nation under God, parties must continue to promote their more efficient, yet still responsive to indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. views and their philosophies, but we the needs of our citizens. We passed re- f must never sacrifice the common good form that fulfilled those needs and re- MESSAGE FROM THE SENATE of the American people on the altar of stored funding to the nursing homes A message from the Senate by Mr. partisan competition. and hospitals. Lundregan, one of its clerks, an- We have proved that when we work Millions of seniors rely on Medicare nounced that the Senate had passed together, we get our work done. This every day. Our government must con- without amendment a concurrent reso- year, we passed the budget on time for tinue to improve and strengthen this lution of the House of the following only the second time since 1974. By lifeline for our seniors. We still have a title: completing our budget on time, we year left in this Congress, and I hope were able to complete all 13 appropria- that the President will work with us to H. Con. Res. 235. Concurrent resolution providing for a conditional sine die adjourn- tions bills without dipping into the So- find long-term solutions to the prob- ment of the first session of the One Hundred cial Security Trust Fund, doing that lems that affect the Medicare program. Sixth Congress. for the first time since 1967. For the As important as retirement security The message also announced that the second consecutive year we passed a is to older Americans, education is Senate had passed with an amendment balanced budget. That is the first time vital to the future of all Americans. As in which the concurrence of the House that has happened since 1960. a former public schoolteacher, improv- is requested, a joint resolution of the The appropriations process was hard ing education is one of my top prior- House of the following title: work and took longer than I wanted to ities.