Tom Coburn: “Mr. Chairman, I hesitate to get in this debate, but one of the things I heard that really bothered me is an assumption…”

“Mr. Chairman, I hesitate to get in this debate, but one of the things I heard that really bothered me is an assumption that the American people should not take as fact. There is no shortage of money. Discretionary spending from this Congress last year rose almost 9 percent, three times the rate of inflation in this country. So dare we not make the case that money is tight. Our pocketbooks that we are spending of taxpayers' money is growing three times the rate most of them are seeing increases in their own budget. The second contention that I would make is that it is okay to fund research that is not necessarily legitimate, because sometimes something positive comes out of it. I am reminded of the research that was appropriated when the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey) was chairman of the committee that studied the flatulence of cows. There has been nothing positive that has come out of that approach. It is ironic that we would be so resistent to a lessening of programs that are not necessarily cogent and reasonable that are necessarily related to regional politics and reelection.”