Kendrick Meek: “I must reclaim my time. I would like to say I come from a State that had the line-item veto. We have had Governors abuse…”

“I must reclaim my time. I would like to say I come from a State that had the line-item veto. We have had Governors abuse that power. There is the potential there. To me, if there is just that small potential of abusing that power, I feel that we should keep that separation of power. Mr. Chairman, did not this body, with great fanfare and expectation pass the Gramm-Rudman bill in 1985 to get control? That did not work. We passed the second Gramm-Rudman-Hollings bill, that did not work. We passed the Budget Enforcement Act in 1990 to do the same thing, to control the skyrocketing Federal deficit. Here we are today still hoping. We have enough procedural things behind us, Mr. Chairman, to stop spending. It is up to us as the Congress to do this, and not to give the President these enormous powers. Why are we going to cede our legislative powers to the executive branch? Why empower a tiny minority, just one-third of the House, to control the aspects of Government policy, large and small? We must be sure that we keep the powers that the Constitution gave to us. I came to this House after 129 years of not being able to get here, to participate in the governance of this Government, not to give up the legislative branch powers to the executive branch.”