Rob Andrews: “Mr. Chairman, my friends who offer this budget have done a great public service, because I think they have shed some…”

“Mr. Chairman, my friends who offer this budget have done a great public service, because I think they have shed some light upon the underlying dilution of the majority's Republican resolution that is the base bill. The base bill says that we are going to bring in $171 billion more over the next 5 years than we take in. Then it proceeds to spend $268 billion more than we take in, a $97 billion gap. What they say to the American public is we can reduce your taxes by $200 billion and provide a prescription drug benefit under Medicare, and we can increase defense spending and increase some other spending, all to the tune of $268 billion. So, see, your surplus is $171 billion, but your additional giveaways are $268 billion. To the credit of the alternative of the gentleman from New Hampshire (Mr. Sununu), you do not do that. The Sununu alternative tells the truth. It says in order to do those things, to have the prescription drug benefit and pay down the debt and cut taxes, one has to make very significant cuts in the budget. That is an honest proposition with which I disagree.”