Political Quotes

“Mr. President, one of the provisions the Democratic leadership decided to put in this HIRE bill is the expansion of Build America Bonds. Build America Bonds is a very rich spending program; however, it is disguised as a tax cut. One Democratic Senator was asked why the Build America Bonds program is viewed differently than appropriations, and she replied: It has a good name. Ironically, the Finance Committee is returning to its roots of doing appropriations bills. When our committee was established in 1816, the Finance Committee handled the major appropriations bills that came before Congress. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that a portion of the document outlining the history of the Finance Committee be printed in the Record. There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows: This vote of no confidence proved a turning point in jurisdiction over tariff bills. . . . Beginning in 1834, all tariff bills were referred initially to the Finance Committee. The important Tariff Act of 1842 was handle by the Finance Committee, as were a number of minor bills in the decade following the Compromise Tariff of 1833. In 1846, a bill to reduce tariffs was passed by the House and sent to the Senate on July 6. The Senate leaders wished to take the bill up on the Senate floor immediately; a motion to refer it first to the Finance Committee was narrowly defeated 24 to 22.…”