Byron Dorgan: “this is not a debate about plugs and triggers but a debate about that we feel is important in terms of investments for…”

“this is not a debate about plugs and triggers but a debate about that we feel is important in terms of investments for the future of this country. I am going to speak, after we have voted on this amendment, about the budget more generally. I want to stay on this subject because I think it is very important to lay out the facts. The facts are these: If you get rid of all the discussion about any triggers, all the discussion about plugs, the question of who is spending more or investing more in discretionary spending, especially nondefense discretionary spending, is not a serious question any longer at all. The President's budget proposes more investment in the kinds of things that many of us think are very important--college financial aid, Head Start, cops on the beat, the WIC Program. Things that we think are important are going to be better funded in the President's budget. Now, the majority party says their priority is to add $11 billion above what the Pentagon asked to be spent to buy trucks, planes, ships, and submarines that the Pentagon did not request. They want to add $11 billion in that spending. Then they want to make the case that somehow they are spending more money in discretionary spending than the President's budget. It is simply not true.…”