Political Quotes

“You are certainly welcome. How did we come to this day? Make no mistake, if the American economy were struggling, if we faced high unemployment, slow economic growth, few housing starts, businesses failing, trade accounts in the red, we would not be standing here with any kind of an agreement to balance the budget. But that is not the case. What propels us into this debate is the good condition of the American economy. Yesterday, the Dow Jones index broke a record, I believe. I cannot keep up with it. Up and down, up and down, but it has generally been up. We have seen the lowest unemployment figures in two decades. We have seen jobs created. People are building homes and starting businesses. America is moving forward. We feel good about it. How did we get here? Is this just a matter of good luck? I think it is more than that. I think it goes back to an action taken by Congress in 1993, and not a popular one, I might add, when the President stood up and said, "I think we can move toward a balanced budget and keep the economy moving forward, and I want the support of Congress to do it." I was a Member of the House at that time. I joined the President, and I might tell you it was a partisan decision--not one single Republican vote in support of the President's plan, and yet we passed it. In the Senate it only passed when Vice President Gore cast the tiebreaking vote to enact the President's budget.”