Kent Conrad: “the Senator from Texas began by saying I was a good advocate but I was playing a weak hand. I say to him, he is an…”

“the Senator from Texas began by saying I was a good advocate but I was playing a weak hand. I say to him, he is an outstanding advocate. I do not agree with him. I think his prescription for America really is not the priorities of the American people. Most of all, I always enjoy listening to him, but I must say, the words he speaks bears almost no relationship to the facts and certainly no relationship to the budget I have offered. What I find most enjoyable is that the Senator from Texas has been giving this same speech for 20 years, and it does not matter if the facts have changed completely, he sticks with his speech. So I applaud him for his consistency. When he says this is a question of more and bigger Government or smaller Government, that is not what this is about. No, no, no. That is the old debate. That is the old, tired debate, but that is not what this budget resolution is about. The budget resolution I have offered today would shrink the role of Government and would dedicate more of the money to debt reduction. The truth is, the fundamental difference between our budget proposals is we have dedicated about 70 percent of this projected surplus to short-term and long-term debt reduction. The President's plan devotes about 35 percent to short-term and long-term debt reduction. That is the big difference. They have a much bigger tax cut. We have much more money for short-term and long-term debt reduction. That is the real difference.…”