WALLY HERGER: “balanced budget security for America's future, a GOP plan. I would like to go down this, if I could, to outline the six…”

“balanced budget security for America's future, a GOP plan. I would like to go down this, if I could, to outline the six points of the Republican plan. Number one, protects 100 percent of Social Security surplus. All of the $166 billion Social Security surplus is off limits to Clinton-Gore spending. This will be the second year in a row that Republicans will be protecting the Social Security surplus. Secondly, we strengthen Medicare with prescription drugs. It sets aside $40 billion to help needy seniors afford their prescription drugs, and it rejects the $18.2 billion Clinton-Gore Medicare cuts. Point three, it retires the public debt by 2013. It pays off more than $1 trillion of public debt over the next 5 years. Our budget has already repaid $302 billion since 1998. Our next point, it promotes tax fairness for families, farmers, and seniors. It provides for the House-passed marriage penalty an average of $1,400 per married couple and small business tax relief, education and health care assistance amounting to $150 billion, and it rejects the $96 billion gross tax increase over 5 years in the Clinton-Gore budget. Number five, it restores American defense, 6 percent more than last year's for overdeployed Armed Forces. The GOP defense budget provides $1 billion more than the Clinton-Gore plan. Finally, number six, it strengthens support for education and science, 9.4 percent for elementary and secondary education, IDEA increases of nearly $2 billion.”