Arlen Specter: “I thank the leader very much for the comments he just made. I would like to pick up on just a couple of them. What is…”

“I thank the leader very much for the comments he just made. I would like to pick up on just a couple of them. What is generally misunderstood, notwithstanding how many times we have said it, is that there is no Federal money in this bill. The bill is ironclad that the Federal Government will have no obligation at all, and even though it has been said repeatedly, talking to Senators in the well of the floor yesterday, it has not really sunk in. I can understand why it has not sunk in--because the bill is so complicated-- but it is worth repeating. There is no Federal money in the bill. The objection which is raised is that some future Congress may want to add money to the bill from the Federal Treasury. But that is not a valid consideration for this Congress. We are doing the best job we can here in the year 2006. But if some future Congress 20 years from now or 30 years from now or 15 years from now makes another decision, we have to respect that. We are not so smart to handle the current problems, let alone anticipate what is going to happen a decade or more from now. So when people raise the issue about more expenditures, they are not doing it because of this bill; they are doing it because of what some future bill may provide.…”