Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, let me just, if I might, respond to a few of the comments that were made by the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Coburn). Let me say that I have the greatest respect for the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Coburn). He has been the conscience of this House, he has been a fiscal hawk, and he has forced those of us on the appropriations committees, and all the committees, to answer questions in a way that I think we need to have answers, not only to our colleagues but to the American people. So I salute him for the work that he has done and I appreciate it. It may not have always have made my days easier, but it is okay. I think it makes for a better bill in the long-run. But if I might, let me just talk about a couple of things that he mentioned. He talked about the fact that this is $240 million over last year. In my opening remarks, the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Coburn) was not on the floor at that time, but I noted that that $240 million, which is less than a 2 percent increase over the current year, is considerably short of what we would need--$600 million--to maintain current levels.”