Katie Porter: “I think it is also well to remind ourselves that this bill in fiscal year 1996 carried the greatest level of deficit…”

“I think it is also well to remind ourselves that this bill in fiscal year 1996 carried the greatest level of deficit reduction in the House of any piece of legislation; $9 billion in cuts on a $70 billion base. The reason that there is an increases in this year's bill of the magnitude the gentleman has just described is that this increase was part of an agreement between the majority and the minority, between the Congress and the White House. In that agreement the majority got tax cuts that it sought and restraints in entitlement increases in the future that it sought, in return for certain agreements to provide for priorities that the minority sought. So the reason that the allocation for this account is as high as it is, is simply because it is carrying out a balanced budget agreement. We are bringing this bill to the floor within the context of bringing the budget into balance, which is, I know, your No. 1 priority, but also for all the time I have been in Congress, my No. 1 priority.”