John Kerry: “I regret enormously that this amendment to restore funding for environmental cleanup failed by a party line vote in the…”

“I regret enormously that this amendment to restore funding for environmental cleanup failed by a party line vote in the Budget Committee. This amendment that we are now proposing funds the most fundamental priorities of the country with respect to the environment, protection of our natural resources, our national parks. I will just preface the specifics of the amendment by saying, Mr. President, that all of us care enormously about the budget and the fiscal restraints that we are living under right now. The issue in Washington is not whether or not we are going to balance the budget. This fight should not be, 'They don't want to balance the budget.' They do. 'They're irresponsible. They just want to spend a lot more money.' We don't. That is not the fight. There are two budgets, one of which we voted on last night that balanced the budget by CBO figures in 6 years. It is a Democrat vision of how we ought to go about spending money to balance the budget.”