Rich Neal: “I want to make a sweeping prediction here to the gentleman from California (Mr. Thomas), chairman of the Committee on…”

“I want to make a sweeping prediction here to the gentleman from California (Mr. Thomas), chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means, that before I have seen the final product, I am not going to like it. I can assure my colleagues I am not going to like that final product. This motion to instruct conferees contains many good elements. As the chairman has acknowledged, this is one of the tools of the minority to make a point. The key point of this motion is that the conference report should not include phase-ins longer than 5 years. This limits the ability of each party to push costs we cannot afford now out into the future. It also means that whatever we enact into law would probably stick. It also is fair to acknowledge that this is truth-in-advertising for the House of Representatives tonight. Nor is it unheard of. As the current chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means has said many times, and I agree with him, the House works off of a 5-year projection.”