Frank Lautenberg: “one thing we know is that a budget isn't just a collection of numbers, it is an expression of principles and priorities…”

“one thing we know is that a budget isn't just a collection of numbers, it is an expression of principles and priorities and direction. While I have the floor, I will take a moment to say to our friend and colleague from North Dakota that he has been one of the strongest chiefs of the Budget Committee. I sat on the Budget Committee for a long time. I think it is fair to say, Republican or Democrat, the Senator from North Dakota deserves the thanks and respect from everybody here for the detail and for the arduous task he took on to make sure our budgets were clear. No matter how often the challenges came, Senator Conrad would stand and give the background and give the details that got him to a point of view, and we are grateful, and we will certainly miss his presence here. The budgets the Republicans have put forward today confirm their true priorities. I had a good business career before coming to the Senate, and I remember that during the Second World War we raised taxes on high incomes and on excess profits because the country needed the revenues. We needed to make investments. Again, the budgets the Republicans have put forward today confirm their true priorities. What are they? They really are pushing, working hard to make sure people who make millions can get tax breaks. It is a little hard to understand, with the shortages we have and needing to invest in more programs, that they are worried about those who make more than $1 million a year.…”