Richard K. Armey: “I would like to make this observation: Listening to the gentlewoman from North Carolina, I am reminded it takes…”

“I would like to make this observation: Listening to the gentlewoman from North Carolina, I am reminded it takes leadership, and it takes cooperation, to really get big jobs done in government. People must work together. I have to say I am very proud of this record we have of working on this very big issue of our budget. We said we were going to balance the budget. The naysayers in this town said it could not be done. When we got to that point, the President recognized it, and in fact when the surplus began to emerge, he recognized that. I remember the President said, 'I am going to commit 63 percent of the Social Security revenues to debt reduction.' We appreciated that gesture on his part, but we said, 'How about 100 percent?' Again, the naysayers, they said it could not be done. But we challenged the President to work with us. What we saw is when you have a disciplined leadership and two agencies of the government, the Congress and the White House, working together, we managed to accomplish a 100 percent total stop of the raid. Now, what we need is a new administration after these elections that understands the fruits of that discipline and retains that commitment.”