Political Quotes

“I yield myself such time as I may consume, subject to the 5-minute limitation. As always, Madam Chairwoman, I am deeply moved by my friend from Massachusetts' eloquent words. The problem is nothing he said really directly relates to the Barton amendment. We're not striking the loan program. We're not changing the authorization level. We're not saying that low-income homeowners who wish to use the program cannot borrow funds under this bill if it becomes a law. What we are saying is that once they've borrowed the funds, once they've been spent in the proper fashion, and hopefully once they've been repaid, the repaid funds will go towards deficit reduction. Since this is an authorization bill, and since it's not funded anyway, according to the distinguished chairman, you would think that they would be willing to accept a small Barton amendment that simply says, if the program is ever funded, and if it actually is implemented, as people use it and pay the money back, that money goes to pay the poor taxpayers back who have labored long and hard to pay the taxes that make the program possible in the first place. So, again, I am deeply moved by my friend from Massachusetts, but I hope that he is as deeply moved by my remarks and would change his position and support the Barton amendment. I reserve the balance of my time”