Political Quotes

“I rise today in favor of the Balanced Budget Amendment. I have and will support the sound fiscal reform proposals offered by Mr. Kyl, Barton, and Stenholm. The Balanced Budget Amendment is an absolute necessity to protect our children's future. Everyone talks about getting our house in order, but we continue to spend and accumulate debt. Congress does not have the self-control to reduce spending. For this fiscal year, fourteen percent of our budget, $206.4 billion, will be used to pay interest on the debt. The debt is a growing drain on our budget that will reduce our discretionary spending. In addition to this drain, we have an American public demanding effective Government with no new taxes. Therefore if we want to increase spending for effective programs, such as Cancer research, Head Start, Pell grants, and Chapter 1 programs and important senior citizen programs, we must have a balanced budget amendment. I find it difficult to believe that members from the other side of the aisle are pointing to the 5-year budget plan we adopted last August as evidence as to why a balanced budget amendment is unnecessary. This plan increases spending $850 billion and will add $2 trillion to our national debt over the next 5 years. This is an example of tough choices. Such a plan would send the shareholders of a private company into an uproar. And the shareholders of this country, the American citizens, will not stand for such irresponsibility.”