Mitch Landrieu: “this amendment will not require 60 votes because it does not seek to waive the Budget Act. I am somewhat in agreement…”

“this amendment will not require 60 votes because it does not seek to waive the Budget Act. I am somewhat in agreement with what Senator Gramm said and our ranking member, Senator Harkin, about the fact that we do need to be concerned with the amount of spending. We need to be concerned about the amount of spending for education, for health, for our military. We want to make sure we are making smart and wise investments. We want to make sure we are not getting back into the era of big Government or irresponsible Government with irresponsible tax breaks. I am much inclined to support many of the comments that were made. This amendment fits that debate exactly. I am hoping the leadership on both sides will see it that way. Let me begin by telling my colleagues again what this amendment does not do. It does not ask to waive the Budget Act. It does not add any money to this budget. It does not reduce one penny of title I money to any State in the Nation. It simply attempts to redistribute the moneys within this budget to reflect a value about which we all speak on both sides of the aisle each day; that is, the value of trying to target the money in this budget to those children, families, and communities that need the most help.”