David Thomas: “I rise very reluctantly in opposition to the amendment of my friend, the gentleman from Minnesota. I do not know about…”

“I rise very reluctantly in opposition to the amendment of my friend, the gentleman from Minnesota. I do not know about the other areas of the appropriations package. I do know about the legislative branch. I worked very, very closely with the gentleman from California, and look at where we have gone. I do want to correct slightly the gentleman's numbers. In fiscal year 1995 it was $1.9 billion. Last year it was $1.72 billion. This year it is $1.68. Those are declining real numbers every year. Last year, because it was larger, we cut $154 million. We cut the committees by one-third when we came in, saving $67 million. This year, notwithstanding one-third of a cut in committees, the gentleman from California sharpened his pencil and came up with an another $37.4 million reduction over last year. We are talking about real reductions over last year, not reducing the increase. We do not play that game. This is a new majority. It is an absolute reduction. It is not a mindless across the board. It was focused on where we could cut. I support the gentleman generally, but not in this particular instance.”