Our meeting today is a symbol to those brave Cubans who remain in prison on political charges or who struggle daily, risking their lives, for the twin causes of human rights and democracy.

I recommend that the Senate promptly give its advice and consent to accession to this Convention together with its amending Protocol.

The days of endless gridlock, rising deficits, and trickle-down economics are over.

The United States will not rest until all of the peoples of this hemisphere enjoy the fruits of freedom and democracy.

We have laid the foundation for the renewal of the American dream.

I am honored to welcome to this house and to this country one of the heroes of our time.

I am grateful for his service.

I think I should always let the Senators speak for themselves.

I don't know how in the world we could ever make any decisions in this country if we made decisions on that basis.

They should think it's a price worth paying to get the deficit down and to get these incentives for the economy to grow.

We can say to the working poor, if you have children in your house and you work 40 hours a week, you will be lifted out of poverty.

We have a budget deficit, we have an investment deficit, and we clearly have a trust deficit in America.

I think it would be better, from the point of view of the public trust and also more binding on Congress, if we can pass a separate piece of legislation.

Nothing has done more to erode the confidence of the American people in our Government than our chronic failure to manage our finances.

There are three other opportunities we're going to have to cut spending to continue to drive the deficit down.

We cannot move forward unless we act on this now.

It is essential to guarantee that the net deficit reduction achieved by the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 is dedicated exclusively to reducing the deficit.

I believe it will pass.