Porter Goss: “Mr. McINNIS. Mr. Speaker, I also express appreciation to the gentleman from Florida for allowing me to speak this…”

“Mr. McINNIS. Mr. Speaker, I also express appreciation to the gentleman from Florida for allowing me to speak this morning for a couple of minutes. First of all, this is exciting. This is very refreshing. We have got a rule now that is going to allow us to discuss for 3 days the line-item veto. Last year I can remember what we got allowed to us by the other side, a total of 3 hours. We get 3 days now. That is the difference. That is the beauty of this rule. So I commend the chairman of the Committee on Rules, and I commend the committee on both sides of the aisle for allowing this kind of rule so that we can have the discussions that are necessary. Second of all, let us talk about the merits of the line-item veto. Take a look at the defense budget. No President in the history of this country has been allowed, because of the defense necessary for this country, to veto the defense budget. So what happens, that is the obvious place to put in pork, to tuck it away. The Congressional Research Service estimates that $50 billion worth of nondefense-related appropriations have been stuffed into the defense budget because no President would dare veto that appropriation. Now with the line-item veto, that game is over, folks.…”