John Spratt

It could very well be worse. There are several things to bear in mind: The surpluses come from a projected, estimated $5.6 trillion. That includes Social Security, all the way to $0.6 trillion. From $5.6 trillion to $0.5 trillion; $661…

throughout this year, the gentleman from Iowa (Chairman Nussle) and I have tried to maintain an amicability and civility in the committee, which has worked between us because there is a natural relationship of friendship between us to…

Here is one reason that we have not produced a plan. It is because the plan that we are confronted with, the budget, so-called, before us, is not a real budget. As I said earlier, it is a tip of an iceberg. Here are just a few of the…

None at all, even though we know from historic experience it averages about $6 billion a year. Let me give credit to our chairman, the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Nussle). Last year he wanted to baseline that amount of money. He wanted to…

Two hundred twenty-five billion dollars less. That is the difference between CBO and OMB. CBO says it will be $225 billion higher than OMB estimates. OMB is estimating a very low percentage rate of growth, 4.5 percent in the next couple of…

If you can convince the financial markets that you are going to retire $3.5 trillion of Treasury debt, then that will mean the Federal Government will not be in the markets crowding out private borrowers, driving up interest rates…

Mr. Speaker, the country is in revision, businesses are failing, people are hurting, losing their jobs by the thousands, and what do we have as a solution? Here in the middle of the night, hours before we adjourn, we are presented with a…

I come from textile country, and I have seen the effects of imports upon jobs in the area where I live, $77 billion trade deficit in textiles and apparel last year. Over the last 10 years, we have lost about a million jobs in textile and…

this bill increases missile defense by $2.6 billion to $2.7 billion, 50 percent over last year's level, but it ends a system that everyone has long thought essential to missile defense, and that is a program called ``SBIRS-Low,'' for…

I hope he will go back and consider it again before the conference is out, talk to the folks at IDA and talk to the folks at BPDO.

let me just quickly say the Air Force originally assumed 21 satellites; it has now gone to 30. Get ready, this is going to be what happens to all of these component missile defense systems as it gets closer and closer, and the real cost is…

the Andean Free Trade Preference Act expires in December; and if all we were talking about was the extension of the bill, it would be a simple matter. Most of us would vote for it. But this Andean Free Trade Pact extension is also an…

Mr. Speaker, on October 4 the Committee on the Budget principals, with OMB concurring, laid down principles for economic stimulus. We now have before us the Economic Security and Recovery Act, and it breaches all of those principles. It…

the devastation wreaked by terrorists on September 11, 2001 was horrendous. But had the terrorists used nuclear weapons, the death and destruction would have been even worse. The one essential element terrorists lack in making nuclear…

the Federal Reserve used to have a regulation called Regulation V, for V loans. It dated back to the war but was carried over from the war and renewed each year in the Defense Production Act. The last entity that I know which qualified for…

In a strict sense, this resolution is not necessary, because the Constitution makes the President commander in chief; and as such, he has the power to strike back when our country is struck, as it was struck on September 11, and the War…

Yesterday, Mr. Speaker, was a dark day in the history of our country. Today, we are bloodied but not bowed. We are a country united. Here in Congress we are neither Democrats nor Republicans, we are Americans, and we have closed ranks…

Mr. Speaker, while we were on recess, Floyd Spence, a native South Carolinian, a friend of us all, and a Member of excellent standing passed away. Floyd was a star athlete, a student leader, a naval officer in Korea, a State legislator…

day by day, bill by bill, the surplus is washing away. The House is driving this budget straight into the Medicare trust fund. Yesterday, it was the energy bill, with an impact on the budget, according to the Congressional Budget Office…

Mr. Speaker, we are now in the eighth of 13 appropriations bills, and, as we drive this process to conclusion, I think it would be smart to stop and look at the fuel gauge. That is what we have here, a gas gauge. We started out with a full…

I first learned of this resolution when I got a call yesterday afternoon from the gentleman from California (Mr. Hunter) on the golf course. He had his staff busy at work on this, and he wanted to send me a copy of it. Over the evening, we…

Mr. Speaker, on Saturday night, in the euphoria after the test, General Kadish warned against reading too much into this single test. He warned specifically that we have a long way to go before we have a system we can deploy. I think, at…

The road to Saturday's successful intercept has been long and arduous; and we have miles to go before we can say we have gotten there, even gotten to the point where we have what we call a limited defense system capable of defending us…

let me quickly respond to my friend, the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Nussle), that if he wants an example of model bipartisanship, 1997 is a good year to refer to. That year the White House was controlled by Democrats, the Congress was…

there are many reasons this budget ought to be sent back to conference. It needs a total overhaul, a complete rewrite. I would like to ask the gentleman from the Committee on Rules if there is a possibility if we send it back if you might…