Haley Stevens: “as the Senator from New Mexico, Pete Domenici, said earlier today, this has been a difficult conference. Senator…”

“as the Senator from New Mexico, Pete Domenici, said earlier today, this has been a difficult conference. Senator Domenici and his staff worked tirelessly on this conference report and deserve much of the credit for it. Let me review just briefly some of the differences that had to be resolved. In the House bill, there was an enhanced rescissions approach, while the Senate bill that went to conference used separate enrollment. The House bill applied only to appropriations and targeted taxes, while the Senate bill applied to appropriations, any tax that favored any one group, and new entitlement programs as well. The House bill made the President's line item veto of a program effective after a congressional review period, while the Senate used a constitutional veto that was effective immediately. The Senate bill contained a mandatory lockbox for deficit reduction. The House bill did not. The Senate bill contained a sunset, and the House bill did not. The list can go on and on, but foremost among all of these issues were real questions about just what it was that we were delegating to the President, and if that delegation would be found constitutional. After many long days and nights, and not a few testy meetings--and I must say, these conferences were the most acrimonious I have faced in 28 years--I believe that we have taken the best elements of both bills and created something that will work as Congress intends.”