David Obey: “Mr. Chairman, the idea behind the lockbox is that, supposedly, when savings are made on the floor in bills that are…”

“Mr. Chairman, the idea behind the lockbox is that, supposedly, when savings are made on the floor in bills that are brought out of the Appropriations Committee, that that money, instead of being used for another purpose, is locked up in a box and used for deficit reduction. Sounds great. I think we ought to go through the history of the lockbox in this Congress. The first time that it was raised as a major issue was on the rescissions bill, when major reductions in the existing fiscal year's budget were being considered by this House. In that bill, in committee, the gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. Murtha] tried to offer an amendment assuring that every dollar that was cut in that bill be used for deficit reduction, not for tax cuts. That amendment was defeated. We then came to the floor, and our Republican friends in the majority had a change of heart. Essentially, they were looking for votes. What they said was, ``All right, I tell you what. We will support the Murtha amendment.'' They supported the Murtha amendment and they also supported the Brewster amendment, which said ``No money for tax cuts, just use it for deficit reduction.''”