WASHINGTON – First District Congressman Paul Ryan yesterday voted to pay off $240 billion of the national debt, putting 90 percent of next year's (fiscal year 2001) budget surplus toward debt reduction. The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved the bill 381-3.

"I'm glad so many of my colleagues came together to embrace significant debt reduction," remarked Ryan. "It is critical for the nation's economic well-being – for our children and grandchildren's sake – that Washington pays its bills and doesn't keep relying on future generations to settle its 'IOU's'. I urge the President to join us and side with fiscal responsibility to pay down the debt."

Last week, Congressional Republican leaders asked President Clinton to join them in committing 90 percent of next year's surplus to paying off the public debt. The President said he viewed paying down the debt as a priority; however, he said he was not sure it could be done in the 2001 fiscal budget. Clinton was quoted in The New York Times on September 13 as stating: "Whether we can do it this year or not depends upon what the various spending commitments are."

"The timing of this bill is crucial," noted Ryan, "because it sets the stage for final budget negotiations between Congress and the Administration. It effectively frames the question: will we spend more of the surplus on federal agencies or pay down the public debt? Yesterday, Congress issued its response: Washington doesn't need more of the surplus – we need to pay down the debt. If we don’t begin paying off the debt now, then when will we?"

The debt relief bill passed by the House yesterday incorporated earlier legislation that creates a Social Security and Medicare Lockbox – ensuring that the Medicare and Social Security surpluses may only be used to strengthen these programs and reduce the public debt. Furthermore, the bill changes budget law by enabling Congress to proactively pay off debt. (Current law allows debt relief to occur only if there are surplus funds left over from discretionary spending.)

“For the past two years, I've been fighting for key elements included in this legislation," said Ryan. "I have written language into the budget that prevents future Congresses from dipping into the Social Security Trust Fund to pay for other government programs, and I've put forward proposals to help pay down the debt. Yesterday's legislation builds on Congress' recent success at protecting the Social Security surplus by ending the smoke-and-mirrors accounting Washington has used in years past to raid Social Security and Medicare."

"It is especially impressive when seen as part of the ongoing congressional drive to pay down the debt," observed Ryan. "Since 1995, Congress has paid down over $351 billion in debt. Add to this the $240 billion in debt reduction we voted for yesterday, and that means that by the end of the 2001 fiscal year Congress would have paid down more than a half-trillion dollars of the debt."