Political Quotes

“I must reluctantly oppose the omnibus appropriations bill. I do so with disappointment rather than anger, because a lot of hard work went into this giant legislation. But what was necessary to get agreement with the President on this bill undermines our hard-won commitment to fiscal responsibility and could threaten the balanced budget. The omnibus bill increases spending to a level that is not sustainable in future years unless we abandon the 1997 Balanced Budget Agreement. There may be arguments for amending the Balanced Budget Act. We have reached a balanced budget much faster than anticipated and perhaps we should revisit the agreement. But not in this manner. This is a backdoor way to avoid the spending limits the President and Congress agreed to only one year ago. Mr. Speaker, we must face facts. This bill is spending the surplus. It is spending the Social Security surplus. This bill will reduce the 1999 surplus by at least $20 billion. The President has been less than candid with the American people. He has said that he wants to save the surplus to save Social Security. What he really means is that he will save whatever is left of the surplus for Social Security after he gets all the additional spending he wants for other programs. He will not use the surplus for tax cuts, perhaps that is the right policy. But he should own up to the fact that he is spending the surplus on other Government programs.”