Paul Coverdell: “I also have a letter before me from the National American Wholesale Grocers Association, a group with a very large…”

“I also have a letter before me from the National American Wholesale Grocers Association, a group with a very large membership across the country, who support the legislation without the amendment. I am not going to enter all of these into the Record. We have a letter in our hands from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce which represents hundreds of thousands of businesses across the country in support of the legislation without the amendment. And the list goes on and on and on of people who actually are out there meeting a payroll, running a business, who have supported the legislation managing unfunded mandates as offered by the Senator from Idaho. Why the incongruity? Why would we have people here on the Senate floor who are suggesting that we have to have an amendment such as this to protect the private sector and yet we have this outcry from the private sector saying pass the bill as it is? The answer is very simple. The private sector is already paying the effects of unfunded mandates. If you own a piece of property in any city, county, or other jurisdiction across this land of ours, about a third--depending on the type of jurisdiction--about a third of that property tax bill that you are paying every year is directly related to Federal orders--mandates--with no check to pay for them. I spoke about the motor-voter bill the other morning, which cost my State $6.6 million in the first year and then $2 to $3 million thereafter. That is Federal folly.…”