Alcee Hastings: “Title IV of our rules package is one of the ones of which I am most proud. Over the past 12 years, our colleagues on the…”

“Title IV of our rules package is one of the ones of which I am most proud. Over the past 12 years, our colleagues on the other side of the aisle, while allegedly praying to the gods of fiscal responsibility, have nearly sunk our ship of state in red ink. Today we begin to right this ship and staunch the unmitigated gall of telling the American people that, on the one hand, they need to be more responsible with their money, but, on the other hand, Congress should face no such obstacle. Today we will say ``no more'' to spending money that the government doesn't have, only to pass down to the young people of America, some of whom we saw here yesterday afternoon, passing it on to them before they even have a say in how their money is being spent. Yes, today we say to the American people that Congress, like you at home, Jane and Joe Lunchbucket, will not spend money that we don't have. Our credit card is maxed out and we start to reduce it today.”