Lloyd Bentsen: “It is interesting, Mr. Speaker, that one of our candidates for President is running under the theory that it is time to…”

“It is interesting, Mr. Speaker, that one of our candidates for President is running under the theory that it is time to change the old concept that if it feels good, do it. But the bill that we have before us today fits into that. Now, I know my colleagues on the other side have this new-found desire to put their imprimatur on paying down the debt. It is interesting, because over the last couple of years, they really have not been in that position. They wanted to spend the surplus as fast as they could get their hands on it. In fact, they wanted to spend it far into the future and not even knowing what it is. I offered amendments, as my dear friend from Iowa (Mr. Nussle) will remember, when we marked up the budget resolutions over the last couple of years, just to have hard freezes and pay down the debt as fast as we could, and I was lectured by the other side that this did not make any sense, and we really should not do it, we should not shackle the Congress' future ability to make the investments that it needs.”