Political Quotes

“We are at the end of the toughest year in memory for Federal employees and for Federal agencies. It can only get better, and I know this has been a tough bill to work on, in part for that reason. I would like to call the attention of the House to a few issues that give me particular concern. The Office of National Drug Control Policy now has a new director, and then we tie his hands. At the very least it seems to me as he deserves the right to start without staff reductions. On that side of the aisle a major issue has been made of the increase in some sectors of drug use, especially among young people. The way to send a message we are serious about curtailing that use would be to allow the Office of National Drug Control Policy to proceed without undue cuts. There is no time to waste on this issue. It is enveloping us again; it rises, it falls, it rises again. I also regret that there has been competition for funding between the IRS and the Treasury, the IRS making money, the Treasury making peace. I commend the committee that there is $24 million in this bill for the ATF to combat torching of churches.”