John Spratt: “fiscal year 2000 begins in 2 days, and we have no budget, no prospect of one. What we have instead is a red herring…”

“fiscal year 2000 begins in 2 days, and we have no budget, no prospect of one. What we have instead is a red herring, this resolution, one House resolution hastily filed less than an hour ago which makes a promise that the majority has already broken. This resolution asserts that we should not spend any of the Social Security surplus. Now there is nothing wrong with that in principle, but there is a big problem with it in fact. When we recessed last August for our break, the House had already spent the entire on-budget surplus of $14.4 billion for the next fiscal year, fiscal 2000, and we invaded the Social Security surplus, the House had, Mr. Speaker, on the majority's control and direction by some $16 billion. Now do not take my word for that. This is the conclusion reached by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office, Dan Crippen, in a letter dated to me August 26.”