Cord Byrd: “I have taken the oath 13 times in 48 years: In the West Virginia House of Delegates, the West Virginia Senate, the…”

“I have taken the oath 13 times in 48 years: In the West Virginia House of Delegates, the West Virginia Senate, the United States House of Representatives and in the United States Senate. I know what it means. Mr. President, we should be willing to bite the bullet now. We have not been 26 years in the building of this colossal--these deficits to the extent that they are triple-digit billion dollar deficits. For 182 years we ran up something like $1 trillion debt. Then when Mr. Reagan came into office--he was in office 8 years, Mr. Bush 4 years--we more than tripled that debt. And as my grandson used to say, ``You know what,'' I helped Mr. Reagan to triple that debt. Because I voted for his tax cut in 1981. And I have regretted it. I voted for his massive military buildup. I urged upon him that he could not balance the budget, mount such a massive defense buildup, and cut taxes in 3 successive years, 5 percent the first year, 10 percent the next year and 10 percent the third year.”