Richard K. Armey: “Mr. Speaker, when we wrote the Contract With America, we promised the American people a new deal, a change, a real…”

“Mr. Speaker, when we wrote the Contract With America, we promised the American people a new deal, a change, a real change which would be meaningful in their real lives. We promised innovation and responsiveness. Today we bring forward the Contract With America Advancement Act, and it includes the line-item veto. The line-item veto is something the American people have called for for years. The chairman of the committee, the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Archer], who first came to Congress with Richard Nixon was in the White House, introduced the line-item veto at that time. Through the end of the Nixon Presidency and through the Ford Presidency, through the Carter Presidency, the Reagan Presidency, the Bush Presidency, and thus far through the Clinton Presidency, the chairman has fought for a line-item veto, and through all that time the other party, while in the majority, were unwilling to give this authority to the President of the United States. They were unwilling to give this authority to any President, Republican or Democrat, because they claimed it for themselves, in defiance of the will of the American people. Today we will pass it, Mr. Speaker. We promised and we are delivering today, regulatory reform to give relief to the small business men and women of this country who create the majority of our new good jobs.”