Jane Harman: “I am pleased once again to join in supporting the bipartisan coalition balanced budget proposal. In contrast to both the…”

“I am pleased once again to join in supporting the bipartisan coalition balanced budget proposal. In contrast to both the Gingrich and the President's budget proposals, cuts in this budget are balanced in each year and achieve a zero deficit without resorting to unsustainable program cuts in the outyears and an ill-timed tax cut paid for with borrowed money. The coalition proposal is a honest compromise between the other two major proposals, and it contains policy recommendations that strengthen and preserve Medicare and Medicaid as well as critical investments in education, technology, and the environment. I support tax cuts including a capital gains tax cut, but they should be enacted and paid for in the context of overall tax reform when we can also simplify the tax system. If we are serious about deficit reduction, let us put spending cuts first. Let us put a plan on the table that asks the 104th Congress to make the same kind of hard decisions that we will ask of the 105th and 106th Congresses. Vote for the coalition budget.”