Pete Sessions

Well, I think that is getting to the nub of the matter. I think it is a sense in which--now for a constitutional amendment to pass, it has to have a two-thirds vote in the Congress, both Houses, and three-fourths of the States. Once…

I am flabbergasted by the majority leader's comments. He said: I think this piece of legislation is about as weak and senseless as anything that has ever come up on the Senate floor. Well, wouldn't the Senator say that compared to all the…

I would like to yield 5 minutes to the chairman of the Financial Services Committee, the gentleman from Birmingham, Alabama (Mr. Bachus).

In an encouragement to my dear colleague Ms. Slaughter, I would like to inform her that I have fewer speakers as a result of committee hearings and would encourage her to run through perhaps two of her speakers at this time and then I will…

For the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the ranking member of the Rules Committee, my friend, the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Slaughter), pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During…

That is a stunning thing. You can talk about raising taxes on American workers, on families, on small businesses and on the wealthy and investors all you want, but this talk is easy. It ignores the root causes of the deficit and debt…

Going back to the other chart on taxation and spending under the Obama budget, I would note President Obama's budget raised taxes significantly, increased spending even more, and as a result, over 10 years, created more debt projected than…

Well, not many, is my answer to that. But as often as the President talks about taxing the rich or spreading the wealth around as a cure for our fiscal problems, you would think it would balance the budget. But would he get us there?

The Senator has served on the Finance Committee for a number of years and is now the senior ranking Republican there. If you listen to our friends on the other side of the aisle, it would appear that all fiscal problems could be resolved…

Well, with $13 trillion--that is 13 thousand billion-- $21 billion won't amount to much.

It is shocking to see how small those numbers are, and we aren't hearing that in the press and in the national discussions. From the talk we have heard about these proposals, you would think they would yield more than 2 days of debt…

Well, let me say I appreciate the work of the ranking member of the Finance Committee, a long-time member of that committee. It seems to me pretty clear that the President's budget he submitted earlier this year--which I have to say was…

How many days of debt reduction over that 10-year period would a $3 billion savings or increase in taxes amount to?

Well, we use this turn of phrase all the time, but I am afraid it is worth discussing how politicians use it.

Our friends on the other side of the aisle are almost exclusively focused on hitting up the taxpayer for more revenue.

I thank the Senator from Pennsylvania. He has been such a fabulous addition to the committee, talented and experienced and worked so hard that he has actually laid out a budget himself. The President has 500 people. The Congress here has a…

I see Senator Lee from Utah. Senator Lee is a new Senator. He campaigned throughout his State and talked about the kind of issues we are dealing with today. I would yield to him at this time.

That is correct. I am sure in 1974 they were concerned about the process in the Senate. They decided to try to bring order to it. They decided to require the budget be passed which sends a message over to the Appropriations Committee. This…

It absolutely will. It sets forth precisely the language. It requires this. It is pretty clear. I don't think there is any doubt about it: Until the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year has been agreed to and an allocation…

Before recognizing other Senators, I briefly ask Senator Corker, having been a businessman and a mayor and having observed the political scene in the country, is the Senator aware of any government entity--city, county or State--that…

The Senator from South Dakota is an experienced member of the Budget Committee and a member of the leadership on the Republican side in the Senate. Isn't it true that we had more interest from Members wanting to join the Budget Committee…

I would say that I do believe we are at a national crisis with our debt. I believe it endangers the Nation, because Erskine Bowles, who chaired the Debt Commission appointed by President Obama, has told us that we are facing an economic…

Senator Johnson, as I recognized, is a businessman. President Clinton recently said we need to reduce our corporate tax rate. I was on a TV show with Senator Bill Nelson, my good Democratic colleague, who said we ought to reduce some of…

I ask my colleague, Senator Lee from Utah who just joined us, his late father was Solicitor General of the United States and law school dean, and we are glad that Senator Lee has put a lot of effort in drafting a constitutional amendment…

I appreciate the gentleman from Hood River, Oregon, coming to speak not only about this bill but also his strong leadership in issues that deal directly with our Nation and keeping us fiscally sound. Mr. Speaker, at this time I would like…