George H.W. Bush: “May I thank everybody for coming down here. And I want to thank the Republican Members of both the Senate and House.…”

“May I thank everybody for coming down here. And I want to thank the Republican Members of both the Senate and House. There are two very important legislative matters on the schedule for this week that I want to discuss with you all and get your advice. First, I appreciate your leadership on both of them, but it looks to us like the Senate is once again poised to follow the lead of their House colleagues and raise taxes again. And the centerpiece of both these bills is a huge tax increase that will kill job creation, particularly by small businesses. And so, there has got to be no mistake about this: Raising taxes on the Ameri- can people, given the situation, is simply not acceptable. And I'm going to veto that tax increase bill as soon as it's sent to me. It's hard to believe that they're trying to not only raise the taxes but eliminate one of the best, perhaps the only real fiscal discipline tool that we have, and I'm talking about the caps that came out of the '90 agreement. And they're talking now about getting rid of that, and that latest end-run on controlling Government spending is also destined to be sent right back once it hits this desk in there. I mean, I cannot accept busting the caps on discretionary domestic spending. And I am very grateful for your support, and I look forward to talking about these matters and many others in just a few minutes. Presidential Primaries and Aid to Former Soviet Union”