TJ Cox: “Mr. Chairman, H.R. 2, the Line Item Veto Act, is something the American people have wanted for a long time. It is a…”

“Mr. Chairman, H.R. 2, the Line Item Veto Act, is something the American people have wanted for a long time. It is a fitting tribute to their tireless efforts, as well as to the tireless efforts of one man who has been mentioned here several times in the course of this debate, Ronald Reagan. Next Monday, February 6, Ronald Reagan will celebrate his 84th birthday. It is absolutely fitting that we will vote on final passage of H.R. 2 on Ronald Reagan's birthday. A decade ago Ronald Reagan said about the line-item veto, "No other single piece of legislation would so quickly and effectively put order back into our budget process." That is as true today as it was 10 years ago. It will restore what the Founders saw as the strongest deterrent to wasteful spending by Congress, an energetic executive with the power to force a thoughtful and thorough debate on individual items of spending. H.R. 2 will reverse some of the damage that was done by the 1974 Budget Impoundment and Control Act, passed by a liberal Congress at the height of its powers as a slap at President Nixon, then at the depths of his disfavor with the Congress.”