(Here is the revised and edited text of Congressman Wamp's speech in favor of the Republican budget and against a Democratic alternative. Wamp spoke on the floor of the House on the night of March 23, 2000.)

Mr. WAMP. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman very much for yielding the time. It is an honor to come and close this debate today - There is not a person in the United States Congress who deserves more credit for bringing us to a balanced budget than the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. John Kasich, Chairman of the House Budget Committee). He is a genuine man, and everyone in this institution respects and appreciates the gentleman.

I admire the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. John Spratt, ranking Democrat on the House Budget Committee), but I have to tell you, I spent the first half of my life as a Democrat for 20 years. And I spent the second half of my life as a Republican. I joined the Republican Party in 1980 because I felt like the Federal Government was growing too big and out of control in some respects, and we needed to restore more accountability to Washington, D.C.

I would say as a member of the Committee on the Budget and the Committee on Appropriations that this majority has hit its stride in balance and fairness. I think this budget is the best product that we have come up with in the 5 1/2 years that we have had an opportunity to present our way.

My 13-year-old son is in the Chamber tonight. He will be 13 Sunday. And I really believe that this issue is of the greatest importance for our country and our children. I have heard charges about reckless tax cuts all night long, but let me tell you when I was in born in 1957, the American people paid less than 10 percent to the Government at all levels combined. And today it is almost half.

When my son is at my age, at the current pace, three-fourths of what he makes is going to go to the Government at some level, and that is reckless. That is the truth.

We need to bring more accountability to this process in which we are going to restrain government growth. That is what this budget does. Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan knows it. He says it. The economy is the goose laying the golden egg of prosperity. And we have to restrain the growth of spending.

The Democratic substitute here actually grows discretionary spending at twice the rate of inflation. We cannot continue to do that. Ladies and gentlemen, the time for tax fairness has come, and Democrats and Republicans are agreeing that we need to reduce the tax burden on working families in this country. And I am proud of this budget , because it is fair and reasonable.

I come from the center here to say that it is time that we all come together around this budget, live within our means, fuel the economy, save Social Security -- protect 100 percent of it -- strengthen Medicare, do all we can with that prescription drug benefit, retire the public debt in a bipartisan way and give some tax relief to the American families while we can. If we do not do it now, with unprecedented surpluses, we will never do it. We have to do it now. Let us come together.

Yes, we are not restoring America's defense. We need to do more, I say to the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Spratt). We need do a lot more, because we have people spread all over the world over-deployed, underpaid, and ill-equipped. We need to do more, but a billion dollars (more than President Clinton proposed) is at least a step in the right direction. We must also invest in education and science.

Let us pass this budget tonight.