Political Quotes

“I have long supported a line-item veto for the President, I have proposed constitutional amendments to grant the President such authority, and I have supported statutory enhanced rescission authority. As these measures have failed, after extensive legal research and analysis, I now urge the President to exercise the line-item veto without further legislative action. I do so because I believe, after a careful review of the historical record, that the President already has the authority under the Constitution to veto individual items of appropriation in an appropriations bill and that neither an amendment to the Constitution nor legislation granting enhanced rescission authority is necessary. The line-item veto would be effective in helping to reduce the hugh deficit that now burdens our country. While alone it is no panacea, its use would enable the President to veto specific items of appropriation in large spending bills, thereby restraining some of the pork-barrel or purely local projects that creep into every appropriations bill. With the broad national interest rather than purely local concerns at work, the President's use of the line-item veto would cut significant amounts of this type of spending. The line-item veto would also have a salutary effect on Members of Congress.”