NAN A. S. HAYWORTH: “Mr. Speaker, it is difficult at times for a career politician to go do this, but I would ask all of us to leave the spin…”

“Mr. Speaker, it is difficult at times for a career politician to go do this, but I would ask all of us to leave the spin cycle in the laundry room. The fact is historians and the American people will judge us on how we arrived at this important date with this important piece of legislation. What we can truly say today, Mr. Speaker, is that this is not a victory of party. Quite the contrary, it is a victory for our country. Because we put aside some partisan differences, we tried to reach accommodation on some deeply held beliefs, and such is the essence of our Democratic lifestyle and the principles we embrace. It is interesting for me personally, Mr. Speaker, as I reflect back to the summer of 1969, to the year of the miracle Mets and man on the Moon, the summer before the sixth grade for me, and the last time the American people had a balanced budget. How important it is that, in waiting a quarter century or more, an entire generation, in effect, we now have the chance to embrace a balanced budget.”