Ellen Tauscher: “I am proud that in my first opportunity to speak on the floor of the House, I am rising to voice my strong support for…”

“I am proud that in my first opportunity to speak on the floor of the House, I am rising to voice my strong support for the blue dog coalition budget. The coalition budget is a commonsense approach to deficit reduction. It does not rely on gimmicks, nor do we postpone the tough cuts until the final years of the plan. At this point the blue dog budget is the only budget plan that will balance the budget by the year 2002 and take the Social Security trust fund off budget by 2005. As Members of Congress, we must show our constituents that we can make the tough choices necessary to put our fiscal house in order. The coalition budget proves that we can balance the budget, save Medicare and Social Security, and preserve our commitment on education. If we colleagues are truly looking to balance the budget in a bipartisan manner, I urge them to take a long hard look at the blue dog budget. This is the right plan for Democrats and Republicans to begin to form a truly bipartisan consensus on a balanced budget.”