Political Quotes

“I have expressed the concern that there is a feature in this bill that would require estimates for the life of a mandate which could go 20, 30, 40 years. It could be unlimited, and that becomes an impossible task. We are kidding ourselves if we think we can get anything reasonable beyond the first 5 years, frankly, or 10 years, surely. So this amendment puts a cap on the estimate requirement and says that in no event shall the estimate have to be for any year beyond 10 years. We have already acknowledged that the CBO has the right to tell us that they cannot estimate these costs, and that holds through for any number of years. The CBO usually estimates direct costs for 5 years, and that is it. So this says for a maximum of 10 years, and, if the CBO can only do 5, obviously it will do 5. But this finally will set a cap on what otherwise would be an impossible task. I understand that the managers of the bill will accept this amendment.”