Cord Byrd: “I do not know when we are going to stop breaking the mirror in the Alice in Wonderland story. The Senator says we…”

“I do not know when we are going to stop breaking the mirror in the Alice in Wonderland story. The Senator says we passed--we passed in 1993--the greatest tax increase. No, ``we'' did not pass it. Not a Senator on that side of the aisle voted for that tax increase. Not a Senator. Not a House Member on the Republican side of the aisle voted for that tax increase. Moreover, not one Republican on the Senator's side of the aisle or in the House on the Republican side voted for that same 1993 legislation, which, overall, reduced the budget deficits by somewhere between $450 billion to $500 billion. And it really has done better than that. The deficit has decreased 3 consecutive years in a row. The Senator does not want to vote for a tax increase, but the Senator's party is advocating a tax cut of over $200 billion. Now, who can possibly stand with a straight face and say, ``Let's cut the deficit,'' and, at the same time, come in here day after day and talk about the President and how he has failed to cut the deficit, how the President has failed to exemplify leadership, who could do that with a straight face, and then turn around and say, ``Let's cut taxes''?”