Jim Nussle: “on the heels of reducing the deficit over the last 2 years by $200 billion, this year we Republicans passed a good…”

“on the heels of reducing the deficit over the last 2 years by $200 billion, this year we Republicans passed a good budget plan, and it is continuing to work. This year, and we just completed the work, but the House of Representatives, under the leadership of chairman Jerry Lewis, passed its bills for appropriations on time and under budget. We just completed that work, and it is the first nondiscretionary freeze in over a generation. {time} 0545 We also committed that we were not going to allow an automatic tax increase on the American people, and Chairman Bill Thomas delivered. We want to continue the strong economic growth and job creation, and it is working. And tonight we pledge to reform the automatic spending programs to get rid of waste, fraud, and abuse, and eight committees stepped forward to do the hard work to bring us here tonight. Mr. Speaker, we have a plan. They do not. It reforms important government programs and saves money for the hardworking American taxpayers. Let us pass our plan, finish our work, and let us go home.”