John Spratt: “Mr. Chairman, shortly the House will pass a $12.6 billion supplemental appropriation bill. I guess it will pass. The…”

“Mr. Chairman, shortly the House will pass a $12.6 billion supplemental appropriation bill. I guess it will pass. The House should understand that this bill, this supplemental, breaches the spending levels that were set just last week when we passed the House Republican budget resolution passed. During the debate of the budget resolution, we tried to point out that the Republican resolution assumed 5-year spending cuts of $117 billion, which we did not believe that the Congress, under Democrats or Republicans, was likely to make or would make based on past experience. The supplemental appropriations bill the House will adopt is $4.1 million in budget authority above the funding level that was assumed just last week in the House budget resolution. And since the extra spending is not fully offset, the surplus for fiscal year 2000, fiscal year 2001, and fiscal year 2002 will be lower. We had a chart on the House floor last week. We have not been able to blow it up again. We do not have the equipment that they do. I have it run on a single 8\1/2\ by 11 page. It picks up where we left off when I was trying to say last week that if we assume that we do the Medicare prescription drug benefit, 45 billion over 5, 155 billion over 10, and you do what you said you were going to do and pass a $200 billion tax cut, that you would soon be back into Social Security.”