Political Quotes

“Madam President, I wish to first address the vote we held yesterday--one that unfortunately failed but I believe was important nonetheless. It would have set in motion a series of spending reductions--not on bills where we had appropriated money for programs and we knew where it was going to be used, but these were essentially surplus funds which were not being used for the intended purpose and which I believe should have been used to reduce our annual deficits and ultimately our national debt. I want to express my gratitude to Senator Lee, the Senator from Utah, who spearheaded the effort to take up a bill that the House had already passed. What we were attempting to do was rescind nearly $15 billion in previously appropriated money that has gone unspent, as I said a moment ago. This was just one small way to show the American people that we are serious--as the majority leader put it yesterday--about tightening our belts financially and taking small steps that hopefully would add up to big steps to live within our collective means. I voted for the rescissions package because I believe strongly that the government should prioritize keeping its fiscal house in order, one that constantly works to improve and implement fiscal discipline. I am concerned now that as interest rates are starting to rise, we are going to see more and more Federal spending go to pay debt service or interest payments on bonds that have been issued to secure our national debt.…”