Victor Fazio: “First of all, I really think it is not my place to protect or defend the majority on the Committee on Appropriations and…”

“First of all, I really think it is not my place to protect or defend the majority on the Committee on Appropriations and the way in which they have allocated the funds. This is not a debate between the Committee on Ways and Means and the Committee on Appropriations. This is a question of how much we should provide the Joint Committee on Taxation. I know the gentleman from California [Mr. Thomas] is proud of some of the reductions that have been made. But if we look at the Committee on Government Reform or the Committee on Education and the Workforce, we see an increase from 1997 and 1998 of 26 percent for Government Reform and 22 percent for Education and the Workforce. I guess the gentleman from California [Mr. Thomas] feels that a 20-percent increase that was originally intended for the Joint Committee on Taxation is consistent with those overwhelming increases in the staffing of those committees. But I have confidence in the gentleman from New York [Mr. Walsh] and the gentleman from New York [Mr. Serrano]. I do not think the Committee on Appropriations has been treated any better than any other committee. In fact, I think we set an example. And, so, I guess I rise to defend the majority from the majority.”