Don Nickles: “I wish to compliment my friend and colleague, Senator Hatfield, chairman of the Appropriations Committee, for his…”

“I wish to compliment my friend and colleague, Senator Hatfield, chairman of the Appropriations Committee, for his statement. I hope the administration was listening. I just jotted down a few of the figures that Senator Hatfield alluded to. He mentioned the committee had moved $6.2 billion out of the $8 billion the administration had requested. If I understand his statement correctly, they are still saying they will veto the bill because we are not spending enough. If they veto this bill or maybe if their threatened veto means this bill does not go forward, therefore the net result of what they are looking at, if I think ahead of this scenario, is then they are going to be looking at a continuing resolution, one that will continue funding at the lower of the House or Senate level, maybe even less a percentage of that. So the administration, while trying to get more money in spending for a variety of programs, may well end up getting less, because, as Senator Hatfield just stated, they cannot make Congress appropriate money.”