Kent Conrad: “first of all, I thank the staffs, the very professional staffs on both sides. I especially thank the chairman of the…”

“first of all, I thank the staffs, the very professional staffs on both sides. I especially thank the chairman of the Budget Committee for his professionalism and his diligence in working on this bill. He has been such a pleasure to work with. His word is gold. I appreciate very much his staff, as well--Scott Gudes, Gail Millar, Jim Hearn, Cheri Reidy, and the rest of the majority staff. I want to also thank my staff--Mary Naylor, John Righter, my counsel Lisa Konwinski, Jim Esquea, Sarah Kuehl, Mike Jones, Cliff Isenberg, Jim Miller, Kobye Noel, Shelley Amdur, Steve Baily, Rock Cheung, Dana Halvorson, Tyler Haskell, Jim Klumpner, Jamie Morin, Stu Nagurka, Anne Page, Steve Posner, and David Vandivier. Mr. President, you can't judge a book by its cover. The language being used here is that this is a package of deficit reduction. But this is the first chapter. The first chapter reduces spending by $39 billion. But the next chapter will reduce taxes by $70 billion. The third chapter will increase the debt by $781 billion. You have to read the whole book to know the conclusion. The conclusion of their book is more deficits and more debt. No one should believe this vote is about deficit reduction while insisting on another $70 billion of tax cuts as part of this package. In the second chapter of the book, the deficit actually goes up. The majority's proposal to increase the debt limit by $781 billion, which is the third chapter of their book.…”