Arlen Specter: “I support Senate bill 1 to eliminate unfunded mandates to States and local government. There is no doubt about the…”

“I support Senate bill 1 to eliminate unfunded mandates to States and local government. There is no doubt about the onerous imposition of very expensive projects on State and local government which have been decreed out of Washington, DC, and the Federal Government. I think as a matter of fundamental fairness, if we decide something ought to be done as a matter of national policy, then we ought to be paying for it. Many have spoken about the principle of federalism, which is the concept that the United States was founded on. It is to leave to the States all that was not specifically delegated to the Federal Government in the Constitution on the very obvious point of having the governmental unit closest to the people making the decision. Also, as a matter of federalism and the concept of federalism, the idea is to leave to local government as much as possible so the people closest to the problem may decide what they want to spend their money on. We have within the bill presently on the floor the principle of the States leaving to local government the maximum amount possible without telling local government what ought to be done. So I think this is a sound bill.”