Timothy Roemer: “This debate today is one about a fair rule to allow us cuts in corporate programs and subsidies, to help heat the…”

“This debate today is one about a fair rule to allow us cuts in corporate programs and subsidies, to help heat the kitchens and the bedrooms for senior citizens or to help pregnant women deliver healthy babies. It is about a rule that is about 70 years old. I voted against Democratic rules when they were not fair. This is the first time I have risen against a Republican rule because it is a Russian rule; not of the Russia of 1995 but of the Russia of 1925. Why not just have an up-or-down vote on this whole bill? We are not even given the opportunity to amend this. Do the American people support cutting the CIA budget of $28 billion or, as the Republicans want to do, cutting the WIC Program, cutting heating for senior citizens, cutting summer youth training programs? I do not think so. Mr. Speaker, give us the ability to make those offsetting cuts and balance the budget.”