Political Quotes

“as a former member of the Budget Committee, I have a pretty good idea of how difficult their task is. That committee defines the entire mass of the Federal budget and tries to make it fit not only the constraints of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, but current national priorities as well. They have accomplished that feat again this year and have, in the main, in my judgment succeeded. But I am about to make a motion to give the committee a chance to fix a fixable flaw in that resolution. It is a broadly based cut in the discretionary budget which is well-intentioned but, in my judgment, creates more problems than it solves. This motion to recommit follows the President's explicit admonition in his State of the Union Address this year that the Nation simply cannot accept further cuts in defense. He drew a line, a line that many of us from both parties believe was absolutely necessary. My motion would instruct the committee to do two things: First, it would instruct the committee to detail how the spending reductions would be accomplished, spelled out function by function. Second, it would ensure that adjustments, such as the $26 billion cut adopted in committee, would not come from the already beleaguered national defense. I concur that further reduction of the Federal deficit is necessary. I do not think anyone here disagrees with that.”