Trent Lott: “Sam, this is a chance where you can make a difference for history. We can control spending some, we can give the people…”

“Sam, this is a chance where you can make a difference for history. We can control spending some, we can give the people a little tax relief in a way that will help the economy grow. He stood there with the two of us looking at him, took out his voting card, stuck it in the box, and voted for it. That required an act of courage. Did the Speaker get mad at him? Did the Speaker rough him up or punish him? No. He said: I am going to fight you, President Reagan, but as two good Irishmen, we will get together at the end of the day, we will have a good discussion, we will have a little fun, and we will talk about America. That is what is going to happen here. There will not be obstructionism. If there is, it will be clear who is doing it, if it is on our side, one way or the other, or on the other side. This is not a prescription for inaction. It could be a prescription for action beyond our wildest imaginations. We are going to talk a little bit more about what is in it. I will not go into all the details here. The resolution will be read. It is relatively short, relatively simple. In instance after instance, Senator Daschle and I discussed points, argued about points. When we could not come to agreement, we said we would deal with the rules as they are. So we got it down to what really matters. Yes, we are going to have 50/50 on the committees, but remember the Senate is 51/50, it is not 50/50. It is 51/50. The Constitution very clearly provides for this.”