Political Quotes

“It goes right back to the issue of priorities, which is why we are dealing with a balanced budget amendment to begin with, I say to the Senator from Maryland. Priorities are, if you are at war or need to go to war to defend the national interest of the United States of America, and you need a three-fifths vote to do it and you cannot get it, you will cut spending somewhere else; you will take out some pork or some wasteful spending that we never can get out of this budget, which is the reason we are in this mess. You set priorities. What is more important, the national security of the United States or funding the Education Department or funding the Commerce Department or HUD? You make decisions, just like everybody else has to do in America. That is the problem. The Senator has gone right to the heart of it. That is exactly why we are here today, because of this mess, because of the point the Senator makes. Nobody wants to set priorities anymore. You set priorities. If I am a Senator and this happens, and the President of the United States, whoever he or she may be, needs money, needs forces, needs to protect the national security of the United States or the troops in the field, I am going to cut somewhere; you bet I am going to cut somewhere, and I am going to do it quickly if I cannot get the three-fifths.…”