Charles W. Stenholm: “I want to refer to the gentleman from Texas (Chairman Archer), and I want to apologize for the tone in my voice a moment…”

3 years ago is when this debate began and those of us that believed that we had a little better plan, we lost that battle; and today, we are still fighting the same battle we did 3 years ago. We were told if we instigated the tax cuts that…

I will vote to increase the debt ceiling because to do otherwise would be irresponsible. But I think it is critical for us to seriously consider changing a little bit the game plan that we are under and that is reinstate pay-as-you-go. I…

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.

But I sat here and listened carefully to his very eloquent speech that was totally irrelevant to the motion that is before the House. We are not talking about raising taxes. We are talking about being concerned about the rising deficit…