On the recordSeptember 24, 2002
No. We agreed in the committee that we would have a certain top line. We voted for that top line. It was unanimous, Republicans and Democrats there, and Republicans and Democrats in the Senate voted for that $768 billion top line. Yet the administration insists on standing by the $759 billion figure. That is just a $9 billion difference, just $9 billion. We are hung up over that $9 billion. Ask the chairman of the Appropriations Committee in the House. He knows what the problem is. He knows that the administration has its feet in concrete when it comes to that top line figure. He, the chairman on the House side of the Appropriations Committee, knows that we need that top line which we in the Senate have already agreed on, $768 billion, if we are to come close to meeting the needs of the American people, talking about homeland security also.
Source
govinfo.gov
