Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.
Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of the war effort. We all rise today in support of the war effort. In fact, as the debate I think has made clear over the last several hours, this issue today is not really about the war effort. The very simple, very clear question that is presented today is whether it is appropriate under the guise of a very necessary, a very important war measure, the supplemental appropriations bill, we should append to that imperative measure another part that would raise the national debt by $750 billion, whether we should append that issue to this moving train, whether that is appropriate for this House.
Today, the House takes a very significant step in raising the Nation's debt by $750 billion. This is no minor matter. This is no trivial resolution without impact. This is our retirement funds. This is our Social Security. This is our future. One might expect that given the gravity of that issue that we would have a full debate and a vote up or down on the decision to raise the debt by three-quarters of a trillion dollars. But that is not what we have here today. What we have is, under the popular cover of a supplemental war effort, a measure hidden in this bill to plunge this country further into debt. This begs one question: Where have all the fiscal conservatives gone? Where have the budget hawks gone that were dedicated to a balanced budget?
I hear from my colleagues in the majority party, they say, Well, our party was the one that balanced the budget to begin with. The argument seems to be, So we will be the party that unbalances the budget. Can it be the policy of the majority party that a balanced budget and eliminating the national debt is really very, very important under one President but not so important under the next? Surely it cannot be the policy of the majority party that under one President, debt is all right and under one President debt is not all right. We should not give this administration, we should not give any administration, a $750 billion blank check to increase the national debt.
We hear from the majority party, Well, it is necessary when you are in the majority to lead. I ask, is this leadership? To take a war supplemental and hide within its contents raising the debt by three-quarters of a trillion, is that leadership? I would think leading the House would mean placing issues squarely before the House, having a full and frank debate on that, and having the courage of the conviction to vote it up or down.
This does not happen because there is a concern about whether a majority would vote to raise the debt. I recognize that concern. And, in fact, we cannot let this country go into default. But there is an alternative. We do not have to raise the debt by three-quarters of a trillion dollars. We could raise the debt in a small amount and require the administration to work with this body to come up with a balanced budget plan, not tomorrow but for the intermediate future, instead of where we are today, which is that we have no balanced budget next year or the year after or the year after that. We have no balanced budget for the next 10 years, and that is simply unacceptable.
But no. Instead, we are going to get cute. We are going to append this debt increase to a very popular measure. And why is this cute? Well, because it puts the minority party in the position of having to vote against the war effort. It is a two-fer. For the majority party, they can say, We didn't vote to raise the debt. And they can say, The minority party doesn't support the war effort.
This country deserves better than cute. It deserves an up-or-down vote and debate on whether this country should be plunged further into debt. Who is going to take the responsibility for raising this debt? Is it this Congress? Are you prepared to take that responsibility? Where were you on the night we mortgaged our children's future? So let us not shift civil service funds into noninterest-bearing accounts. Let us not hide this issue in a wartime supplemental. I urge my colleagues across the aisle to work with us. It does not have to be this way. If we put a war supplemental on the floor today, which we could do, it would pass unanimously. This House would vote unanimously.
And so let us do that. Let us pass this supplemental unanimously. It would be good for this country. Let us raise the debt by a small increment. Let us demand a balanced budget from our administration, and let us work with them to accomplish this. We recognize that you control the House and we do not. We recognize that you can railroad this thing through the House and we cannot stop it. But that is not why you came here to serve. That is not befitting of your fiscal policy, nor ours.
I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to work together and balance this budget.