Jim Bunning: “I rise in strong, enthusiastic support for H.R. 2, the long overdue line-item veto bill that we are considering today.…”

“I rise in strong, enthusiastic support for H.R. 2, the long overdue line-item veto bill that we are considering today. Persistence does pay off. When I came to Washington, a little over 8 years ago, the first two pieces of legislation I cosponsored were the balanced budget amendment--which we finally passed the week before last--and the line-item veto--which we are going to pass today. And it's about time. The balanced budget amendment will give Congress the budgetary backbone it has always lacked. And the line-item veto that we pass today will give the President the scalpel he has always needed to trim out unnecessary spending from major appropriations bills. It's time for the Christmas tree to come down. The line-item veto will do that. It's time to take the pork out of the barrel. The line-item veto will do that. It's time to establish a rational way for the President of the United States to strip wasteful, special interest or local interest projects out of omnibus spending bills. The line-item veto will do that. It is not cure-all. Nobody claims that it is. By itself, it won't balance the budget. But this bill will give the President a very valuable tool that will help him cut Federal spending, weed out Federal waste and root out Federal boondoggles. That might not balance the budget--but it will reduce spending and it will help restore the confidence of the American people that the system works.”