Charles W. Stenholm: “I, too, am a little troubled by some of the rhetoric I have been hearing from my colleagues today that the Democratic…”

“I, too, am a little troubled by some of the rhetoric I have been hearing from my colleagues today that the Democratic substitute does nothing, objecting to the language of the Democratic substitute and the motion to recommit making tax relief contingent on a plan to eliminate the debt and strengthening Social Security and Medicare. The simple truth is if the Republican leadership is serious about eliminating the publicly held debt and strengthening Social Security and Medicare, the contingency language in the Democratic substitute will not prevent marriage tax penalty relief from becoming a reality, or, to my friend from Alabama, having it retroactively applied to this year, if we can fit it within a budget. The Speaker and the President have both expressed a desire to pay off our national debt by 2013. There are several plans to strengthen Social Security; Kolbe-Stenholm, that of the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Smith), the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Sanford), and Archer-Shaw. We could deal with these challenges if the leadership of the House was willing to work together and make it a priority. The only explanation for any objection to the contingency language in the Democratic substitute is that the Republican leadership is not serious about establishing a plan to eliminate the publicly held debt or strengthening Social Security and Medicare. That has to be the conclusion.”