Arlen Specter: “as we begin the 104th Congress, we have an historic opportunity to make fundamental changes in the Federal government.…”

“as we begin the 104th Congress, we have an historic opportunity to make fundamental changes in the Federal government. We have an opportunity to reduce the size of Government, to have less spending, to reduce taxes, to attack crime control, and to speak with a strong voice on foreign policy. I think it is very important, as we approach the issue of reducing expenses, that we be very careful and handle the issue with a scalpel as opposed to a meat axe. As we look forward to cutting taxes, we should examine the capital gains tax which should have been cut long ago, and which will probably produce more revenue because of more transactions. It is something we should have accomplished a long time ago. But where we have tax cuts we should not add to the deficit, unless we first have spending cuts so that we know precisely what we are doing. I agree with key points in the Contract With America.”