Chuck Schumer: “I rise in support of the lockbox Brewster amendment. The gentleman from Oklahoma [Mr. Brewster] and I have been working…”

“I rise in support of the lockbox Brewster amendment. The gentleman from Oklahoma [Mr. Brewster] and I have been working on this concept for 2 years, and it is gratifying to see it come finally to the floor. In my judgment the lockbox amendment makes a very bad bill a little bit less worse. At the very least, the lockbox will guarantee that the spending cuts go to deficit reduction, not corporate tax breaks. I will bet most Americans would be shocked to learn that without this amendment that the gentleman from Oklahoma and his colleagues deserve great credit for in persevering, not one dime of this rescission bill would have gone to deficit reduction, not a single dime. The original intent of this bill was to guarantee such things like General Dynamics and Mobil and other billion-dollar, profit-making corporations pay no taxes to pay for the repeal of the alternative minimum tax. Thanks to the gentleman from Oklahoma, thanks to the lockbox, that is not happening, and this, my colleagues, is what the lockbox was devised for. When we get on the floor and say we are cutting, we should not find that money being used to spend for something else or, more importantly, to reduce taxes. This amendment will make sure that happens. It will make sure that the promise that has been made by so many to the American people that we are serious about deficit reduction does not just become words but it becomes actions.”