Charles W. Stenholm: “Mr. Chairman, I take to the floor in support of the Coburn amendment and commend the gentleman for his fiscal honesty…”

“Mr. Chairman, I take to the floor in support of the Coburn amendment and commend the gentleman for his fiscal honesty, and I appreciate the support that others have shown for it. The census obviously is important, but it is also important that we bring some honesty to the budget process. This morning I spoke against the rule and made the statement that we are already spending Social Security trust funds, and asked if anyone disagreed with me, to please confront me. There were Members here who could have, but chose not to. But the gentleman from Texas (Mr. DeLay), the majority whip, was on the floor and chose to confront me after I left the floor. In doing so, he made some allegations that I want to set the record straight on. He said the Blue Dog budget had a tax increase, not a tax decrease. That is simply false, and he knows it. He said it is okay to declare census spending an emergency, because the 1997 budget agreement did not provide money for the census. I find it hard to believe that my colleague from Texas was actually suggesting that because Congress made a mistake and forgot about the census when we passed the 1997 budget agreement, we have to declare an emergency and leave the taxpayers to pick up the tab. I would also point out that the Blue Dog budgets that we offered in 1995, 1996 and 1997 all budgeted money for the census, supported by a majority of Democrats on each instance.”