Randy Tate: “this legislation is of monumental importance to our country. As a cosponsor, as many other freshmen are, we are keeping…”

“this legislation is of monumental importance to our country. As a cosponsor, as many other freshmen are, we are keeping our commitment to the Contract With America. The line-item veto means cutting spending, shrinking government and that was the message last November. The line-item veto provides a powerful tool for Congress to control spending to eliminate pork barrel legislation, and it is part of our Weight Watchers diet for Congress. The line item veto comes on the heels of the balanced budget amendment, another way to reduce the deficit, another way to get Government out of our wallets. The time to act is now. Congress must get its house in order, because the American people are tired of more of their money going for wasteful government programs and they are weary of the excuses by Congress for the spending. It is out of control. We have heard many times the national debt is over $4 rac{1}{2} trillion, $18,000 for every man, woman, and child. My daughter, Madeleine, who was born 6 months ago, was saddled with this huge debt for the future. The debt not only jeopardizes future economics and future earnings, but it jeopardizes the future of our grandchildren and our great grandchildren. We can no longer allow this reckless spending without an avenue to remove it. Just last year we spent money to study insect noise and to study lobsters. Sounds like a lot of pork to me. The line-item veto provides a powerful check on congressional pork.”