Charles W. Stenholm

I am desperately trying to get people to understand the significance of this for our country, our children and our grandchildren,'' Walker says. ``How this is resolved could affect not only our economic security but our national…

The gentleman has misstated the facts again. There is no budget. There is no budget until we get a House-Senate conference and we have a budget. If we had a budget, I would probably be standing up here agreeing with parts of what you are…

Reclaiming my time, I take back time because again you are totally misleading the body when you make that statement. If you go back to PAYGO as was originally passed in this body in 1990, repassed in 1993, repassed in 1997 with Republican…

That is the problem. That is the problem. It is a lack of understanding. PAYGO means you have got to come up with the spending cuts to take care of the amount of tax cut.

You are mischaracterizing my amendment. We are suggesting that the tax cuts be extended through next year. You are describing something that is not going to happen in my amendment, leaving a wrong impression with the people that might be…

Sometimes it is rather amusing if you have been around for a few years, as I have. The last time this was seriously discussed, my friends on this side of the aisle opposed it. They believe the expedited rescission was a bad idea and that…

I come to the floor very disappointed because once again the majority has chosen not to allow the Blue Dogs to have our amendment considered. I would like to ask the gentleman from Washington, why did his committee allow 19 amendments…

I appreciate the refreshingly honest statement of the gentleman from Kansas and what he just said because he stated quite clearly this is a vote to increase the debt ceiling. I want to ask the gentlewoman from North Carolina if she concurs…

I rise in deep sadness about the way this House is being run. A rule which denies the ranking member of the Committee on Ways and Means an opportunity to offer a serious, responsible amendment on an issue as important as this is should…

I personally do not believe we should pay for tax cuts by borrowing money against our children's future. That is why I support the Tanner substitute, which will extend the 10 percent tax bracket without increasing the deficit. This debate…

We did it in 1997. It was Democrats like me that stood up with Republicans and got it done.

That is not the intent of this amendment. It is not to get into taxes or spending. It is just to say to this body, we have to make a decision regarding how much more we borrow on our children and grandchildren.

No, with all due respect, well, if you want to fight the war by shortchanging the troops in order that you can have your rhetorical answers on that, fine. I will be happy to yield for a simple discourse, but every time you start that…

Then if it is a bipartisan problem, that is what we are suggesting today is a bipartisan solution.

You have spent more, period, and that record stands up. All we are talking about today is a simple resolution saying, let us put us all under the gun. If you put your budget on the floor under pay-as-you-go, I will have to vote for it, if…

My friend, the budget chairman, again continues to listen to only part of what I say. The revenue is not meeting the estimates of what he is saying in his budget, therefore, we had to borrow another $110 billion in order to make up for it…

The Blue Dog budget assumes that we need a change. The gentleman's budget and economic game plan that he has been so proud of since 2001 has given us the largest deficits in the history of this country. We have borrowed $1 trillion in the…

Today we owe the country $7,078 billion, being swept under the rug every day. Foreign holdings of our debt now total $1.5 trillion. Foreign investors financed 70 percent of our record $373 billion debt last year. In January of 2002…

Ironically, we are facing the same question in some regions of this country where dirt is considered a pollutant, and we are attempting to regulate plows. I remember 3 years ago, I believe, in Arizona, we were attempting to regulate dust…

Let me say the concern I have, when the regulations are read and the experiences we have had, we have had some extremely damaging experiences with the Endangered Species Act. What the gentleman says--7-day permit, that is correct; but…

That is most certainly the fear, and it is not just a fear, it is a reality if we impose these regulations all across the United States, as someone might in a certain area in which we have a different rainfall characteristic. The annual…

Reclaiming my time, I took it exactly like the gentleman meant it. It was a compliment. I appreciate the support in this, because in many cases some of the folks do not agree with us on doing that either.

In my opinion, we have the makings of the perfect storm in this country today, 500, now $600 billion deficit as far as the eye can see and we are ignoring it, $500 billion trade deficit as far as the eye can see and going up and we are…

I would return the compliment and also commend him for continuing to emphasize jobs, workers, environmental issues, which are all going to have to be more seriously addressed in all future agreements. We both agree on that.