Mark Souder: “I want to first comment briefly on the question of veterans benefits. Should this amendment pass, I would be more than…”

“I want to first comment briefly on the question of veterans benefits. Should this amendment pass, I would be more than willing, as I am sure many others would, to look at how to transfer money into veterans medical inside this bill from HUD or other sections. That is not the question we are trying to get at here. Veterans benefits go up. We are trying to keep some of them out. I am willing to back more, and have looked at several amendments to back more money for veterans. But overall we have to look at the Federal deficit. Many of us are very upset that the deficit is increasing in our second year of office. This amendment is not targeted at this bill, it is being offered to every bill. We talk a lot about balancing the budget. The fact is we are not moving toward a balanced budget. We took a step in the wrong direction. Maybe we will over 7 years. We cannot bind Congress over 7 years, unless there is a constitutional amendment. We cannot bind the next Congress. All we can be held accountable for is what we do during our 2 years in office. A 1.9-percent cut across the board would get us, if we went back to our other appropriations bills, back to no bump-up in the second year. That is the intent of this amendment. Had others balanced off and figured out what priorities were inside that bill, we would not be faced with this.”