Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, May 7, 1993 TAG: 9305070611
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
On April 1, I issued a press statement saying that I had "spearheaded (with other Republican leaders) a letter to Republican Leader Dole signed by all 42 Republican senators opposing deficit spending in the emergency supplemental appropriations bill and refusing to invoke cloture, or limit debate, on the measure."
That statement went on to point out that "Now is not the time to be funding swimming pools and fish atlases, but that's what this bill would do!" I continue to believe that $500,000 for a golf course, $4.5 million for a gymnasium, and $5 million for a parking garage do not constitute "emergency" spending. Sixteen billion dollars in new deficit spending with no corresponding cuts is a strange way to reduce our deficit.
The filibuster is one of the few tools available to those of us in the minority party to ensure that our voices are heard. It permits the minority to help prevent fast-moving bills like this recent spending train from being engineered through Congress.
Contrary to your allegations, the filibuster is not "obnoxious," nor was it used frivolously in this instance. Our effort was not "extraconstitutional," nor was it "undemocratic." Indeed, quite the opposite is true. None of us sought to "make life miserable" for our duly-elected president.
Our message was clear: "Just pay for it." Americans are too smart to be fooled by phony "emergency" spending, and they are plain fed up with continued growth in the size and cost of government. They want less taxes, not more, and they want both the deficit and the national debt brought to heel.
Forty-three Republican senators stood firm. Our filibuster was no flub. It was a victory for the American taxpayer. SENATOR JOHN WARNER WASHINGTON, D.C.
by CNB