[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 7]
[House]
[Page 8957]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      A CLEAR SIGN OF DESPERATION

  (Mr. HOYER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, our Republican friends are desperate. House 
and Senate Republicans are so far apart on their tax proposals that GOP 
leaders are actually considering writing two reconciliation tax numbers 
into the budget resolution. That is an outrage. It is unprecedented, 
and it is a farce; and GOP leaders have no one to blame but themselves.
  Senator Grassley, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, is 
quoted as saying: ``It's a pipe dream to think you can get above 350 
(billion dollars) without dramatic changes of position.'' In response, 
the gentleman from Texas (Mr. DeLay), majority leader, warns that House 
Republicans may reject the budget resolution that fails to include the 
President's tax proposal, and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. DeLay) 
added: ``It probably would not be the worst thing in the world to not 
have a budget resolution.'' Imagine that. One year after hammering, 
hammering Senate Democrats for failing to pass a budget, congressional 
Republicans say that is not such a bad idea after all. Situational 
ethics. My, oh, my, how Republicans have changed their tune.

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