[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 22]
[House]
[Page 30351]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   ``PRESIDENT NO'' ATTEMPTS TO USE VETO PEN AS DISTRACTION FROM HIS 
                           FISCAL MANAGEMENT

  (Mr. HODES asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. HODES. Mr. Speaker, over the last couple of weeks, President Bush 
has turned into President Veto, saying ``no'' to a bill that would 
provide 10 million children access to health care and then saying 
``no'' last week to a bill that would protect the lives and livelihoods 
of millions of Americans from the devastating impact of flooding.
  After 6 years of signing any bill that came to his desk and 
disregarding the impact legislation would have on our Nation's fiscal 
well-being, President Bush is now trying to claim the mantle of fiscal 
responsibility.
  Who, exactly, is the President trying to fool? He turned a $5.6 
trillion surplus that he inherited from President Clinton into a $3 
trillion deficit. That's a reversal of fortune of $8 trillion.
  When Democrats took control of Congress, we vowed to restore fiscal 
sanity, and we began by restoring sensible pay-as-you-go rules. Every 
bill that we have brought to this floor has complied with these rules, 
but the President continues to imply that he is more fiscally 
responsible than this new Congress.
  The American people should not and will not be fooled by this change 
in rhetoric.

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