Mark Hatfield: “Yesterday I received a letter from Dr. Alice Rivlin, Director of the Office of Management and Budget, concerning the…”

“Yesterday I received a letter from Dr. Alice Rivlin, Director of the Office of Management and Budget, concerning the omnibus appropriations bill our Appropriations Committee reported yesterday. Dr. Rivlin's letter is disappointing to say the least. She concludes by declaring, and I quote directly from the letter: "Regrettably, I must advise you that if the bill were presented to the President in its current form, he would veto it." "Veto" is the word. I do not think anybody needs to go to Webster to find out that veto is no, negative, cut off, closed issue. By the way, may I say parenthetically, I received this letter yesterday afternoon, within a matter of an hour or two after the committee had completed its work and during which time the committee made amendments to the so-called chairman's mark. I defy anybody to go through that complex document in a matter of an hour or two and know precisely what it means and what it says.”