Christopher Shays: “I am speaking tonight on an issue that to me is extraordinarily important and that is getting our financial House in…”

“I am speaking tonight on an issue that to me is extraordinarily important and that is getting our financial House in order. And I think in terms of this, what I have looked at as I have served now in Congress for 7 years and have been a State legislator 13 years before, I see a society where we have 12-year-olds having babies; a society where we have 14-year-olds selling drugs and 15-year-olds killing each other; a society where our 18-year-olds who have diplomas cannot even read their diplomas. I see a society where we have 25-year-olds who have never worked and 30-year-olds who are grandparents. That is a society I see in our country, and I believe a society like that cannot long endure. I also am seeing a society where we have had for the last 20 years extraordinarily large budget deficits. We have seen the national debt go up and up and up, our annual deficits adding to the national debt each year. And I do not single out any one party. We all shared in that to the extent that we were a part of it.”