On the recordJuly 28, 2010
I stress, this bill tonight is in no way a substitute for that bill. This bill tonight is not new. This bill was passed by this House. The exact language, the exact provisions were passed by this House on July 1 as part of a supplemental appropriations bill, and the only reason it is before us tonight as a freestanding measure is because of the Senate's unwise action in stripping these border security provisions from the bill. As for the emergency spending, we did run surpluses in this country in the 1990s. We remember that period when we were actually paying off part of the national debt. Unfortunately, that's not the period we're talking about when we talk about the previous precedents that have been set in this area. The emergency spending that was done during the last administration in this border security area on three occasions under Republican leadership, this was done not at a time of budget surpluses; it was done at a time, in fact, when this Nation was sinking deeper and deeper into debt.
