Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, I have heard a number of scary stories told here that really do not apply to this legislation, if my colleagues take a look at what we are asking here. First of all, what this legislation is about is it forces Congress to finally be honest with the American people about the programs and the regulations it creates. Taxpayers deserve to know the price of a program or a regulation before they are forced to buy into it. This bill for the first time ever will force us to honestly determine the cost of mandates before we push them off onto local taxpayers. Also this bill is about accountability. What are we afraid of here? Are we afraid to cost out what these new mandates are going to cost our State and local governments? Are we afraid of being accountable for the costs that then go on in terms of local taxes, raises in property taxes that we end up mandating? This bill for the first time is going to hold us accountable for the decisions we make, but we still have the flexibility, and I think we will exercise it in many of the cases proscribed by the other side of the aisle in terms of these interstate problems that are going to need some kind of Federal direction, some kind of Federal mandate, but at that point we will have the costs in front of us. The individuals are going to be able to pay for this downstream, are going to be aware of this and be part of the dialog. This is really true federalism.”