Gilbert Gutknecht: “Mr. Chairman, the hour is late and we have had plenty of debate. This is the ninth time that I have offered this same…”

“Mr. Chairman, the hour is late and we have had plenty of debate. This is the ninth time that I have offered this same amendment. This is a 1.9 percent across-the-board reduction. Again, just for the benefit of those who may be keeping score at home, what we are really trying to do is recover the $4.1 billion which we increased in spending above and beyond what this House said we were going to spend, causing a spike in the proposed deficit for next year. Mr. Chairman, I am again offering this amendment in good faith. Even though I know that the chairman, the gentleman from Indiana [Mr. Myers] and his subcommittee have done an excellent job in controlling spending, I really believe if we are serious about balancing the budget we have got to find a way to recover that $4.1 billion. Otherwise, I am afraid we cannot face our kids in good conscience and say that in 3 years we will be able to save $47 billion. Mr. Chairman, I do not have that much to say about this amendment other than that it would ultimately reduce total expenditures in this bill by about $376 million. We would still be spending $19.4 billion.”