Chris Van Hollen: “Mr. Speaker, this is actually the first time I have made remarks on this floor; and I deliberated, as I am sure many new…”

“Mr. Speaker, this is actually the first time I have made remarks on this floor; and I deliberated, as I am sure many new Members do, over what subject I should address first, and I can think of no more important matter facing this Congress than the future economic health of our Nation and what investments we decide to make for the common good. The actions we take here this session will affect the well-being of Americans for generations to come. We need to adopt an economic plan that will put America back to work and a budget that reflects the priorities of the American people. The budget plan submitted by the President a few weeks ago, it is a long document filled with thousands of numbers. Like most budgets, it is not exciting reading unless you like to put on the green eye shades. But it is probably the most important document we will work with this year as Members of Congress, because just as each family has to make many tough decisions about their household budgets, so must we make the tough decisions for our entire American family.”