Eva M. Clayton: “Mr. Speaker, at the onset, I would like to emphatically state my opposition to this rule, because this process is…”

“Mr. Speaker, at the onset, I would like to emphatically state my opposition to this rule, because this process is shameful and insulting. Mr. Speaker, this process is shameful and insulting because it denies an opportunity to act responsible by informing the American people that the numbers in this budget do not add up unless the Social Security and Medicare Trust Funds are reduced drastically. I regret that the budget process has come to this stage. We started off with such promise in the House Committee on the Budget of having a fair and open debate on priorities in the budget. The Democrats expected to lose many of the votes in discussions because we are in the minority, but we were at least given an opportunity for an open and fair debate. President Bush has insisted that he wanted to set a new tone of respect and bipartisanship. What really happened to this fair and open bipartisanship with regard to negotiations on the budget? On last Wednesday, I read an article in the Washington Times that the White House and the so-called congressional budget negotiators agreed on an 11-year $1.35 trillion tax cut plan. The question in my mind is, who are these negotiators? The Democrats on the Committee on the Budget were completely shut out of the process.”