Y4.R86/1:C76/11/995
CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET PROCESS

HEARINGS

BEFORE THE

SUBCOMMITTEE ON LEGISLATIVE AND BUDGET

PROCESS

AND

SUBCOMMITTEE ON RULES AND ORGANIZATION OF
THE HOUSE

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON RULES

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

ONE HUNDRED FOURTH CONGRESS

FIRST SESSION

ON

REVIEWING AND STUDYING ON A CONTINUING BASIS, THE
CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET PROCESS

21-204cc

JULY 13, 19, AND SEPTEMBER 13, 1995

Printed for the use of the Committee on Rules

U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

WASHINGTON: 1995

For sale by the U.S. Government Printing Office

Superintendent of Documents, Congressional Sales Office, Washington, DC 20402

ISBN 0-16-052127-0

CONTENTS

JULY 13, 1995

Opening statement of Hon. Porter J. Goss, chairman of the Subcommittee

on Legislative and Budget Process

Opening statement of Hon. David Dreier, chairman of the Subcommittee

on Rules and Organization of the House

Page

1

3

Opening statement of Hon. Gerald B. H. Solomon, chairman of the Committee

on Rules

Statement of:

June E. O'Neill, Director, Congressional Budget Office (prepared state-

ment p. 9)

5

Susan J. Irving, Associate Director, Budget Issues, General Accounting

Office (prepared statement p. 25)

Bill Frenzel, Guest Scholar, The Brookings Institution

Stephen Moore, Director, Fiscal Policy Studies, Cato Institute (prepared

statement p. 48)

Additional material submitted for the record:

Additional questions submitted to June E. O'Neill, Director, Congres-

sional Budget Office......

19

Additional questions submitted to Susan J. Irving, Associate Director,

Budget Issues, General Accounting Office

37

An article titled, "2020: A Budget Odyssey," submitted by Stephen Moore

of the Cato Institute

52

Additional questions submitted to Bill Frenzel of The Brookings Institu-

tion

78

JULY 19, 1995

Opening statement of Hon. Porter J. Goss, chairman of the Subcommittee

on Legislative and Budget Process

Statement of:

81

Hon. Christopher Cox, a Representative in Congress from the State of

California (prepared statement p. 87)......

82

Hon. Peter J. Visclosky, a Representative in Congress from the State

of Indiana (prepared statement p. 94)

93

Hon. Steve Largent, a Representative in Congress from the State of

Oklahoma (prepared statement p. 105)

103

Hon. Stephen Horn, a Representative in Congress from the State of

California (prepared statement p. 116)

112

Hon. Joe Barton, a Representative in Congress from the State of Texas

(prepared statement p. 120)

119

Hon. Bill Orton, a Representative in Congress from the State of Utah

(prepared statement p. 126) ....

123

Hon. Robert E. Wise, a Representative in Congress from the State of

West Virginia (prepared statement p. 132)

131

Hon. Charles Stenholm, a Representative in Congress from the State

of Texas (prepared statement p. 138)

136

Additional material submitted for the record:

A graph submitted by Representative Steve Largent titled, "The Budget

Process," showing the process the House, Senate, and the President

go through to produce the Federal budget

107

A table submitted by Representative Bill Orton titled, "Table B-3.
Sources of Differences Between Actual Budget Totals and First Budget
Resolution Estimates for Fiscal Years 1980-1993"

Page

Additional material submitted for the record-Continued

A section-by-section summary of the Capital Budgeting Act of 1993, sub-

mitted by Representative Bob Wise

SEPTEMBER 13, 1995

Opening statement of Hon. Porter J. Goss, chairman of the Subcommittee

on Legislative and Budget Process

Opening statement of Hon. David Dreier, chairman of the Subcommittee

on Rules and Organization of the House

Statement of:

134

149

150

Allen Schick, professor, University of Maryland and The Brookings Insti-

tution (prepared statement p. 158)

152

Richard Kogan, senior fellow, Center for Budget and Policy Priorities

(prepared statement p. 175)

171

Timothy J. Muris, professor, George Mason School of Law (prepared

statement p. 198)

195

Carol Cox Wait, president, Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget

(prepared statement p. 214)

208

Additional material submitted for the record:

Graphs submitted by Richard Kogan of the Center for Budget and Policy

Priorities:

Graph 1: Deficits as Percent of GDP and Real Economic Growth

Graph 2: Net Federal Debt as a percent of GDP

191

192

Graph 3: Budgetary Effects of the Economy

193

Graph 4: Medicare, Medicaid, and other Federal Spending

194

CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET PROCESS

Thursday, July 13, 1995

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

SUBCOMMITTEE ON LEGISLATIVE AND BUDGET PROCESS,
AND THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON RULES AND ORGANIZATION

OF THE HOUSE, COMMITTEE ON RULES, Washington, DC.

The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 10:03 a.m. in room H-313, the Capitol, Hon. Porter J. Goss (chairman of the Subcommittee on Legislative and Budget Process) presiding.

Present: Representatives Goss, Dreier, Linder, Diaz-Balart, Solomon, and Hall.

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. PORTER J. GOSS, CHAIRMAN OF THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON LEGISLATIVE AND BUDGET PROCESS

Mr. Goss. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. The joint subcommittee meeting will come to order. This is a very special day, and it seems like we were here not so long ago on another very special day and it is for that reason that we have a somewhat lighter attendance than we had hoped.

Mr. Beilenson did want to be here and I think he will show up. We have some rules coming forward on the floor this morning that are going to require some of our members to be down there, and I think they will drift in and out. In any event, we are looking forward to the testimony, and we are very much committed to pursuing this subject before us today, which really involves the whole question of budget process and budget reform. This seems to me to be extremely appropriate. We are trying to do great things and if we don't have machinery that can help us do great things we aren't going to get very far.

Formally, the Subcommittee on Legislative and Budget Process and the Subcommittee on Rules and Organization of the House, chaired by David Dreier, my colleague from California, today begin the challenge of reviewing the congressional budget process.

The Rules Committee has jurisdiction over the procedures proscribed for the House in addressing the Nation's budget, as we all know. Under House Rule X, clause 3, the Rules Committee is expressly charged with reviewing and studying, on a continuing basis, the congressional budget process.

As such, today's hearing marks the beginning of our efforts to meet our oversight responsibilities in this historic 104th Congress. I would say that we have done some homework already. We have