Political Quotes

Tom Harkin: “I just heard my friend from Vermont say some magical words with which I totally agree. I wrote them down as he said…”

On the recordJune 28, 2000
I just heard my friend from Vermont say some magical words with which I totally agree. I wrote them down as he said them: ``Take budget surpluses and meet our commitments.'' I agree with that. Do you know what? Just this week we now found out we are going to have $1.9 trillion over the next 10 years we didn't know we were going to have in surplus. If my friend from Vermont wants to offer an amendment to fully fund IDEA, and to take it out of the surpluses, I am with him 100 percent of the way because he would be right on. The Senator just said that: ``Let's take our budget surpluses.'' I agree with that. That is not what my friend is doing. He is taking it out of school modernization and construction. I say to my friend from Vermont, if you want to rewrite the amendment and take it out of surpluses in the future, I am with you.
Said by
Tom Harkin
Democratic · Iowa
Source
govinfo.gov

Editor's note · Context

Discussing budget surpluses and funding for education during Senate debate.

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