Political Quotes

“Mr. President, the issue with the Cruz amendment is straightforward. The Byrd rule states that the primary purpose of a budget bill is to address spending and taxes. If, on the other hand, you are debating a major policy change and the budget impact is merely incidental, the provision just doesn't comply with the Byrd rule. That is the case here. The Cruz amendment has a modest budget impact, but the impact is vastly outweighed by the profound impact, as a matter of social and education policy, of providing Federal support for homeschooling for the first time. In fact, last week, the Senator from Texas called his section 529 homeschooling provision ``the most far-reaching Federal school choice legislation bill ever passed.'' I agree with the Senator's assessment of his amendment. The issue of Federal support for homeschooling is, in fact, major policy. There is no question that there are parents who want to homeschool their kids. I am certain that many of them are very conscientious. Yet this is the first time the Federal Government would provide Federal support for homeschooling. That is why the Parliamentarian ruled against Senator Cruz. I urge my colleagues to vote against the Enzi motion to waive the Byrd rule point of order, which we will vote on shortly. I also want to close for the Finance Democrats on this tax issue with some brief remarks.…”