Arlen Specter: “I thought that the President received the most applause of the evening when he talked about reducing the size of…”

“I thought that the President received the most applause of the evening when he talked about reducing the size of Government. And I think if there is one message which has come out of last November's election it is that the people of the United States want to reduce the size of the Federal Government. That is right in line with the pending legislation which refers to eliminating unfunded mandates so that if the Federal Government has legislation which the Congress wants to pass and that it represents a worthy Federal objective, let the Federal Government pay for it. Let us not keep putting one after another requirements on the States for the States to pay for what we decide what we want them to do. That, of course, is in accordance with the basic principle of federalism that we should have a central Government of limited powers. When the President read that line in his speech last night about smaller Government there seemed to be the greatest unanimity in the Chamber than there was on any other point.”