Political Quotes

“the debate we are engaged in, and have been for 8 days now, is important not only because the American people are tired of the Federal Government telling them what to do--and, in the case of State and local governments and tribal governments, having the additional burden of then having to pay for those Federal mandates. It is important, therefore, not only because the unfunded mandates legislation would put a stop to that in the future and say that from now on the Federal Government is going to have to identify the cost of mandates on the private sector and is going to have to pay for the mandates it imposes on the public sector--it is important not only for that reason, but it is also important because when we pass the balanced budget amendment and send that to the States for their ratification, the State legislatures and the Governors are going to be considering whether or not to ratify that amendment. One of the concerns that they are going to have is that the Federal Government might attempt to achieve its requirement of meeting a balanced budget by simply foisting the costs onto the State and local governments and tribal governments. I would add as a footnote that in my State of Arizona the business of tribal governments is significant, and they have to bear the burden of some of these mandates. So they are all concerned about this.”