Ben Cardin: “Let me suggest there are many reasons to oppose the Republican budget and support the substitute that will be offered by…”

“Let me suggest there are many reasons to oppose the Republican budget and support the substitute that will be offered by the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Spratt). The main reason is one of fiscal responsibility. It is important that we bring this deficit down. It is important that we do not add to the national debts. The Spratt alternative budget does a much better job and brings us into balance, whereas the Republican budget just adds trillions of dollars to the national debt. I just attended a conference on the well-being of children; and for the sake of our children, I hope that my colleagues will vote for the Spratt substitute, which is a balanced approach. There are 760,000 people in this country that have exhausted their State unemployment compensation benefits since December when we allowed that program to expire. My friend from Ohio is incorrect in that we do have record numbers of unemployed. Many have just given up. They cannot find employment.”