Douglas Alexander: “these are some of the big ideas in Washington, all of which may be laudable. The idea of freeing high- speed Internet…”

“these are some of the big ideas in Washington, all of which may be laudable. The idea of freeing high- speed Internet from overregulation and subsidizing it, the idea of national ID cards administered when you get your driver's license so that we can do a better job of protecting our borders, and the idea of reengineering computer systems on college campuses so that it will be easier for us to fight the war against terrorists--all three may be wonderful ideas, but all three amount to unfunded Federal mandates, if they are done the wrong way. I began my remarks by reminding all my colleagues--and especially our colleagues on this side of the aisle, those in the majority--that the Republican Party came to a majority in 1994 on a platform of no more unfunded mandates. Republican leaders said: If we break our promise, throw us out. I don't want us thrown out any more than I want any more unfunded Federal mandates. So my purpose today, as the Governors begin to come to town, is to wave the lantern of federalism a little bit and raise a red flag to remind my colleagues that there is now a 60-vote point of order for any unfunded Federal mandates going through here and that I and others will be watching carefully to make sure that we keep our promise. This is a body in which we debate principles, and one of the most important principles that we assert is the principle of federalism.…”