Kendrick Meek: “Mr. Chairman, I think what my colleagues have heard here today are some brilliant theorisms; we have heard some…”

“Mr. Chairman, I think what my colleagues have heard here today are some brilliant theorisms; we have heard some brilliant theories, but there is no time for theories now. We have heard from every side of this House, people who want to predict what is going to happen in 1998 and what is going to happen in 1999, and my colleagues are thinking about some other brilliant nomenclature with whom each of my colleagues is familiar. But I am standing here to ask my colleagues to get real, to get real and pass the good budget that the appropriations chairman has come out with. He has had to work very, very hard; so has the Committee on Appropriations; so has the ranking member and everyone on this floor. I am not against theory, but it is just not time for theory. We have people who are covered with mud out there after this particular flooding season. I come from an area that in 1992 was overcome by hurricane, and had it not been for this Congress acting and acting with dispatch, we would have still had people with an aftermath, and I want to say to my colleagues there is going to be an aftermath to the flood and to the disasters. It cannot be cured in one small sweep of our hand here on this floor. So I stand to say to my colleagues let us pass this good bill.”