David Obey: “we have heard some quite interesting statements tonight. One of the previous speakers derided this side of the aisle for…”

“we have heard some quite interesting statements tonight. One of the previous speakers derided this side of the aisle for the way we handled the national economy for the 40 years we were in control. Here are the facts: from 1946 until 1979, our national debt as a percentage of total national income declined by almost three-quarters, from 126 percent of our total national income to about 25 percent of our total national income. Then along came Ronald Reagan and his free lunch budgets; and in the years he was President, our national debt, as a percentage of our national income, doubled. Our national debt went from less than $1 trillion to more than $3 trillion under Ronald Reagan's stewardship. Bill Clinton came into the White House, and with the support of the Democratic Party with not a single vote from the Republican side of the aisle, he took the actions that led to a balanced budget and produced the surpluses that were referred to earlier by the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer). Mr. Bush then came along and reversed all of that progress. So I am sorry. We can all have our own spin, but the fact is one cannot change history. One cannot change the record. I would say only one other thing. All of the talk about the past is beside the point. This debate tonight is about what we are going to do tomorrow, and that is what the Stenholm motion is all about.”