Political Quotes

“this 1996 appropriations bill, effective October 1, has been the most difficult bill Chairman Myers and I have worked on. As the gentleman has pointed out so well, he and I have worked together for all these years. We have exchanged seats now. He is the chairman and I am the ranking member, and we are working right along just as we have been doing for the last 18 years. The gentleman is great to work with, and I just want to commend him. His leadership has always played a big role in getting this bill put together, making this bill possible and getting the support of the Congress. So we are proud of this bill, when we consider the circumstances and what we have had to face in the way of cuts. For example, the appropriation bill this time contains $18.7 billion. Just 2 years ago it was $22 billion. It is 10 percent less than the President's budget request for this year. It is 7 percent less than what we appropriated last year. So we have done our part in taking our share of the cuts, and many good programs have not been funded as much as we feel like they should be. As a matter of fact, there are many good programs we have had to actually just leave out. This is very, very difficult. As Chairman Myers pointed out, the recommendation by the administration on the flood control projects in our judgment would be a disaster, and we are not going to do it. We are not going to accept that recommendation.”