Sam Gibbons: “the budget estimates are in; and the news is very good. This year, for the first time, the Congress of this Nation is…”

“the budget estimates are in; and the news is very good. This year, for the first time, the Congress of this Nation is going to have an opportunity to do what the American family has had to do for year after year. That is balance the budget. Substantial progress has been made and giant steps have been taken in shrinking the size and the scope of the Federal Government. However, we must not stop now. We have finally righted the ship, and now we must take great care to stay the course. The presence of a budgetary surplus must be used to save our current entitlement programs, not create new ones. This money should be returned to the people, not used to create more layers of bloated Federal bureaucracy. Now that this Republican Congress has succeeded in balancing the Federal budget, all attention should be focused on the family budget. The liberal's concept of bigger government and $100 billion in newer taxes is not better government. Decreasing taxes and reducing the size and the scope of the Federal Government has gotten us where we are today. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to continue this fight. Do not follow this giant step forward with two equally large steps back.”