Peter Blute: “Mr. Chairman, in closing, I want to commend the Committee on Rules for giving us an open rule in which we had a very, I…”

“Mr. Chairman, in closing, I want to commend the Committee on Rules for giving us an open rule in which we had a very, I think, thorough debate on a whole range of issues surrounding the line item veto authority. With regard to the Stenholm-Spratt amendment, I would only say that it complicates matters and that H.R. 2 freestanding is the strongest line item veto authority that we could give the President. President Clinton asked for the strongest version, his budget director asked for the strongest version, and this bill is the strongest version that we could give the President to help him reduce the deficit and discipline the budget process. I would also say that the Congressional Research Service has issued a report on its constitutionality. But the larger issue, Mr. Chairman, is that the line item veto has been kicking around up here on Capitol Hill for a very, very long time. We have an opportunity tonight to give the President this tool and to do something tangible about our Federal budget deficit and about the expenditures in our yearly budgeting process. I urge this House to tonight pass the line item veto authority for the President, send it over to the other body, and ultimately to give the President this important tool.”