Political Quotes

“unlike any Republican in the House or the Senate, I have voted for a balanced budget. We balanced the budget under President Clinton. Not only balanced the budget, started paying down the national debt. He was able to leave hundreds of billions of dollars in surplus to his successor, who determined with Republican votes to go to war in Iraq and pay for the war with a tax cut. That is why we had to borrow the money from China and Saudi Arabia. Not a single Republican voted for a real balanced budget when they had a chance to. In fact, it passed the Senate only because Vice President Gore came and broke the tie. I was proud to have voted for that balanced budget. Not a gimmick, but a real balanced budget. We had to actually make tough choices. We did it. We balanced it. We had a surplus. When we talk about amending our Nation's fundamental charter, the Constitution of the United States, it is not something Congress and the American people should feel forced to do in the face of a financial crisis. I take seriously my senatorial oath to support and defend the Constitution. I know there are a lot of pressure groups demanding that elected representatives sign pledges about what they will and will not do. The pledge I follow, which is the one I was honored to make again at the beginning of this Congress, is to uphold the Constitution. That is what I intend to do as I represent the people of Vermont. The House-passed bill, H.R.…”