October 9, 1974
Page 34610
THE $300 BILLION 1975 FISCAL YEAR EXPENDITURE LEVEL
Mr. PERCY. Mr. President, the President, in his address this week to Congress, urged Congress to join him, before our recess, by voting to set a target spending limit of $300 billion for the Federal fiscal budget for 1975.
I am introducing now, together with Senator MUSKIE, a concurrent resolution to implement this urgent request of the President, and to do so in accordance with procedures outlined in the Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 – Public Law 93-344.
This joint leadership, Majority Leader MIKE MANSFIELD and Minority Leader HUGH SCOTT, vitally interested in this matter, are both cosponsors.
Because this resolution is of particular interest to the chairman, ranking minority member, and members of the Appropriations, Budget, and Government Operations Committees, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be printed in the RECORD following my remarks so that it might be studied by the aforementioned as well as all Senators and hopefully brought up for consideration on Thursday, October 10, 1974, in order to meet the request of the President and not lose valuable time during the congressional recess for work on the revised budget for fiscal year 1975.
There being no objection, the proposed concurrent resolution was ordered to be printed in the RECORD, as follows:
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
(By Mr. PERCY, Mr. MUSKIE, Mr. MANSFIELD, and Mr. HUGH SCOTT)
Whereas the President in his address to the Joint Session of Congress on October 8, 1974 requested Congress to establish a target for budgeted outlays during the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1974 of $300,000,000,000; and
Whereas the Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (P. L. 93-344) provides for the submission of proposed budget authority rescissions and deferrals by the President for consideration by the Congress; and
Whereas the Congress finds continuing inflation to be a most urgent national problem requiring concerted action by the legislative and executive branches of government: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring)
That the appropriate level for budgeted outlays during the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1974 is $300,000,000,000; and
That the President is requested to submit to Congress, within 30 days of adoption of this Resolution by the Senate and the House of Representatives, the proposed rescissions and deferrals in budget authority necessary to achieve this level of outlays.
Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, I welcome the opportunity to join with my distinguished colleague from Illinois (Mr. PERCY), along with the distinguished majority and minority leaders, in introducing this resolution to limit fiscal year 1975 outlays to $300 billion. We are requesting that action be taken immediately on this resolution in keeping with President Ford's request to the Congress yesterday. Congress and the executive branch must cooperate closely in the fight against inflation, and we hope this action will signal that Congress intends to do its part.
The President has indicated that he will submit specific recommendations for budgetary cutbacks when Congress returns from its election recess in November. I look forward to having his proposals. I have in recent weeks stressed the need for budgetary restraint – while avoiding the kind of heavyhanded budget cutting which would deepen a recession or eliminate programs which are focused on the problems of people who are hurt most by inflation and unemployment.
The budget ceiling we are calling for in this resolution is a realistic one. But it will take careful planning and circumspect vision to prune from the budget those items which are wasteful or not urgently needed. I hope the President will exercise such judgment in making his recommendations to the Congress. And I am sure the Congress will act wisely in considering those recommendations.