Doris Matsui: “I would first of all like to commend the gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Kasich] and certainly the gentleman from South…”

“I would first of all like to commend the gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Kasich] and certainly the gentleman from South Carolina [Mr. Spratt] and certainly the President and his staff for putting together this agreement. I would call it a historic agreement, and it is. If, in fact, it is implemented as it is agreed to, then it will be a very good budget because it will carry out the priorities of both sides. It will have a modest tax cut and at the same time it will provide relief for legal immigrants that was taken away in 1996, it will provide new initiatives for children's health care, and certainly it will provide more resources for education in the form of Pell grants and increases of 25 percent in many of the areas of education. On the other hand, I must point out that I thank the gentleman from Texas [Mr. DeLay] for saying that many Democrats will be joining him, but for the last 7 years, in 1990, and 1993, it was the Democrats that basically carried deficit reduction. In 1990, as my colleagues recall when President Bush was President we reduced the deficit by some $600 billion. In 1993, with President Clinton, we reduced it by some $490 billion. That is why we are here today with a $67 billion deficit and on our way to balance. But I will say I am a little concerned, and I want to make one caveat. This is just a piece of paper. It has no force of law. The President does not even have to sign it.”