Political Quotes

“the Senator from Arkansas has made a good-faith effort to address many of flaws in the Sessions amendment. First, this amendment would require savings from discretionary spending, mandatory taxes and revenues. Second, it wisely eliminates the requirement for a two-thirds majority to increase spending, leaving in place the supermajority 60-vote requirement already included in the budget act. And, it reduces the amount of discretionary savings from the Obama request by more than half--to $77 billion over 3 years. While it is a far better alternative to the Sessions amendment, I must still oppose it. The matter for determining how much deficit reduction the country needs over the next three years should be left up to either the Budget Committee or the Deficit Reduction Commission. It should not be determined by an amendment on the Senate floor. In addition, the burden of taking half the total cut from discretionary spending is too great when the real deficit problem has been caused by runaway mandatory spending and tax cuts for the rich. The 3-year cuts of $77 billion in discretionary spending would still be crippling to the Obama budget plan. The Senate should debate this matter on the budget resolution which the Senate is expected to consider next month, instead of on the FAA Reauthorization Act that is before us today. I very much appreciate the Senator's efforts to achieve a more balanced amendment, but I regrettably must still oppose the amendment.”