David Thomas: “I want, first of all, to congratulate the Senator from Idaho for his leadership in this matter. I don't think there is a…”

“I want, first of all, to congratulate the Senator from Idaho for his leadership in this matter. I don't think there is a more important issue before us than the idea of being financially and fiscally responsible. I say that also to my friend from Florida, who supports this concept of accountability as well. Certainly there will be a lot said--there has been a lot said, maybe everything has already been said but maybe not everyone has said it--but it is broader than the books, it is broader than the numbers, it is broader than math. It is a question of being responsible to ourselves, being responsible to our children, being responsible to the future. It is a question of priorities. It is a question of, really, dealing with the issue rather than what has been done over the last 30 years, by saying, yes, we are going to balance, yes, we are going to balance the budget, yes, we are going to do it, and not doing it. I think one of the ironies is many of those who oppose this balanced budget amendment say, 'Oh, yes, we are going to do it,' and point to the President's budget--which does not do it. It does not achieve balance by 2002 and stay in balance. It does not provide permanent tax relief. It does things in Medicare that are strictly gimmicks. It spends $21 billion more on welfare and raises taxes by $80 billion. It has $60 billion in new entitlements.…”