Pete Domenici: “It is cynical for a Senator to come to the floor and say we are cutting old veterans--it is cynical to say we are…”

“It is cynical for a Senator to come to the floor and say we are cutting old veterans--it is cynical to say we are cutting old veterans' benefits when the cuts he is alluding to came out of his committee, were voted on last year. The Senator voted for them. All the Senator from New Mexico is doing is saying when those expire in 1998, continue them. Now, if that is hurting veterans--and you know what we plan to do in 1999? We plan to leave those cuts in place and spend the money some place. When the Senator speaks of Medicare and the cuts, the Senator voted for every single cut that the Senator from New Mexico is proposing, every one, because the cynicism in this place is that we pass a cut in Finance Committee for 1 year at a time. So that the next year when it expires, you can claim it again and claim savings. I have just decided to take a number of those and say let us face it; they are all going to be extended. These atrocious cuts are all in place, and we are going to extend them so that they remain in place just like they are going to be but we decide to save the money by extending them rather than letting it flop around to be spent elsewhere.”