Vernon Ehlers: “it is a time of year when we do our retrospectives on what this Congress has accomplished, and we have heard some…”

“it is a time of year when we do our retrospectives on what this Congress has accomplished, and we have heard some comments about that already. We have cut taxes for the first time in 16 years; we have balanced the budget for the first time since 1969. Even better than that, we have achieved a surplus, and when I was first elected 5 years ago, we had nearly a $300 billion deficit in this Congress and for this Nation; today, approximately $85 billion surplus. How does that affect us as citizens and legislators of this country? Just an example: My daughter and her husband are in the process of buying their first house. The interest rates are the lowest they have been in this Nation in many, many years. That is related to our budget surplus because the government is not in the market borrowing an additional $300 billion, but they are pumping $85 billion back in, and that reduces interest rates. Much else has happened in this Congress. I participated in developing the first science policy statement that this Congress has adopted in many years, and that is going to have a real impact on the science and technology and will certainly make our Nation more competitive among all. Mr. Speaker, it has been a good Congress, and I am proud to have been part of it.”