Carrie Meek: “I rise to commend the chairman and the members of the House Committee on the Budget for producing a bill of which they…”

“I rise to commend the chairman and the members of the House Committee on the Budget for producing a bill of which they and this Congress can be justifiably proud. In an economic and political environment in which nothing large or small is attempted without a wary eye toward cost, the committee has produced a budget measure that embodies the same responsible fiscal behavior that Americans demanded of last year's budget. Although this budget resolution differs somewhat from President Clinton's original proposal to Congress, it continues the fiscal constraint that was reintroduced to Government with last year's budget--the first budget of this administration. As a result, this proposal brings the 1995 Federal deficit down to $175.3 billion, the lowest level in 5 years. It is more than $100 billion below the projection made by CBO in January 1993. There is yet another accomplishment in this budget proposal for which the committee is to be commended. It is a difficult accomplishment and one more intimate to individual Americans than are the arithmetic puzzles offered them by Federal number-crunchers. In continuing this administration's precedent of well-targeted outlays, this is a very human budget as much as it is a Government budget. The budget presented to us today has as its guidance the needs of individuals and families. It contains funding for emergency food assistance, for badly needed mass transit, and for home energy assistance.”