Political Quotes

“Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Before I came to this body, I chaired the appropriations committee in the Mississippi Senate. I worked with my counterpart in the other chamber, a Democrat, Chairman Johnny Stringer. We crafted three balanced budgets because Chairman Stringer and I shared a commitment to a principle that you can't spend more money than you take in. One thing I learned is that there are always more needs and more requests than there are available resources, and that fact causes you to have to make some difficult decisions. We made those difficult decisions in the Mississippi State house. In fact, there are 49 States that require that around the Nation. Municipal, county governments are making those difficult decisions. More importantly, families are making those decisions sitting around the kitchen table, and small businesses are making those decisions tonight. And if they're willing to live within their means, they have every reason to expect their government in Washington to do the same thing. This balanced budget amendment has been a dream of leaders in this body since Thomas Jefferson. Sixteen years ago we had bipartisan support and came within one vote of getting it adopted. I welcome the support of those Democrats that are stepping up and giving bipartisan support to this measure. We must have a balanced budget amendment to rein in spending so that we can create jobs.”