Todd Tiahrt: “in conclusion, when Thomas Jefferson sent Merriwether Lewis and William Clark off to the great Northwest, he had a great…”

“in conclusion, when Thomas Jefferson sent Merriwether Lewis and William Clark off to the great Northwest, he had a great deal of hope for the future of this country. He saw it growing and prospering. Now, as we stand here in 1997, on the brink of a strong economy, we look forward and we have a great deal of hope, a hope of balancing the Federal Government, of controlling Federal spending, of giving a great deal of hope for the future for our country. I want to thank the gentleman from Wisconsin [Mr. Neumann] for coming down here and showing us in very clear terms where we came from in the past as far as Federal Government spending, where we are today, and what we are looking for in the future, which I believe is very optimistic. Again, it is a picture of hope, the same type of hope that Thomas Jefferson saw when he looked toward the West back in the early 1800's, and it is the same type of hope, I think, as we look at the new century. We should have hope for a strong economy, of a way of paying off the debt so our children have a strong future, strong economy, with plenty of opportunity and a way that they can see that they can grow.”