Byron Dorgan: “I come from a town of 400 people in southwestern North Dakota, a very small community, a community probably like most…”

“I come from a town of 400 people in southwestern North Dakota, a very small community, a community probably like most other small communities in this country. Good people live there, thoughtful people, people who help others. Oh, the community has a few hotheads like most communities have, a few freeloaders like most communities have. My home community is probably not unlike the Congress; 535 people serve here in the U.S. Congress, mostly good, thoughtful, hard-working people, Republicans and Democrats who love their country and care about doing the right thing for their country. And we have a few hotheads here and we have a few hot dogs here, I guess. We find ourselves today in a most remarkable position, one that I think causes all Americans to scratch their heads and wonder, what on Earth can they be thinking about in the U.S. Congress? We have a disagreement over a 7-year budget plan. The disagreement is not over small issues; it is over some very significant issues. And there is a good reason that there would be disagreement over large questions, such as a $245 billion tax cut, a $270 billion proposed cut in Medicare spending, and a range of other things. There is good reason that there would be very substantial disagreement about those issues. And yet we know from two centuries of history that in a democracy you find compromise; you reason together; you find a way to come together and reach common solutions. This year, however, it has been different.…”