Ron Kind: “now that the military campaign to disarm Saddam Hussein has begun, our thoughts and prayers go out to the young men and…”

“now that the military campaign to disarm Saddam Hussein has begun, our thoughts and prayers go out to the young men and women in uniform as well as to their families. May they complete their mission quickly and decisively so they can return home soon and safe. Yet here we are today in this Chamber to consider a fantasy budget. It is ludicrous for the House leadership to move forward with this budget debate by ignoring the issue of the day, Iraq, and the cost of that campaign, merely to lock in huge tax cuts and offer unrealistic spending cuts to health care, education and veterans' services. We know the proposed Draconian cuts will not happen, but we also know that the President will send an emergency supplemental spending request for Iraq shortly to us and demand that a check be sent back immediately, and it will be, because we all do support our troops during this time. But this is the classic recipe for exploding budget deficits as far as the eye can see; it's the height of fiscal irresponsibility occurring at exactly the wrong moment during our Nation's history when 80 million of our Americans, the so-called baby boomers, are rapidly approaching retirement age, a demographic time bomb ready to explode. That is why the Republican budget proposal, in effect, constitutes taxation without representation, because it will be our children and our grandchildren who will be asked to pay for this fiscal mess.”