Judd Gregg: “I just want to speak briefly because there has been some talk and discussion floating around the Chamber that one of the…”

“I just want to speak briefly because there has been some talk and discussion floating around the Chamber that one of the proposals that is being considered is to use customs fees to try to fill the failure of this bill to meet its budget obligations. As we have discussed earlier, the bill is about $24 billion over budget, minimum. I think that is a conservative figure, but that is the number that is being accepted as the number that is given. Unfortunately, a lot of the additional spending in the bill, rather than coming from the highway trust fund, which is where it logically should come from because the highways should be paid for by the highway trust fund, comes from a variety of movements of dollars, which essentially ends up with the general fund funding the highway trust fund from between about $226 billion up to about $255 billion, I believe. Off the top of my head, I think those are the numbers that are picked up by general fund activity that is now alleged to be highway fund activity, which is inappropriate. We should pay for roads with highway fund activity. But I just want to put a marker down that if we--on top of all this other gamesmanship as to how this is being paid for, and the deficit, which is being added to by this bill--move to try to use customs fees to give a figleaf of financial correctness to this bill, we would be making a serious and inappropriate error.”