Russ Feingold: “the Speaker of the other body made a remarkable statement earlier this week. He argued that Congress should wait on…”

“the Speaker of the other body made a remarkable statement earlier this week. He argued that Congress should wait on cutting taxes, and instead make balancing the budget our highest priority. This is a significant and extremely positive development in the fight for a balanced Federal budget, and I congratulate the Speaker for making that statement in the face of significant opposition within his own party. Mr. President, the Speaker's comments are indeed welcome. They follow the comments made this weekend by the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee [Mr. Domenici], who informally offered a no-tax cut, no new spending programs outline of a possible budget agreement. Mr. President, I cannot emphasize enough how important the comments of the chairman were. They came after several days of highly partisan comments on the budget, from both parties and in both houses. Often, without leadership, it is the nature of some to retreat to the security of partisan politics--an easy path that leads us further and further apart. To his great credit, Chairman Domenici rejected the considerable forces of partisanship, and offered an alternative path. Mr. President, his path offers us a real chance for a bipartisan budget agreement, and I want to take this occasion to commend my chairman for his courage.”