(June 24,2006)
Good morning. This past week I traveled to Austria and
Hungary, where I had productive meetings with our European allies. We discussed
the challenges and opportunities we share, including the importance of spreading
prosperity at home and around the world. It's good to be back home, and I'm
pleased to report that our economy is strong, growing, and delivering prosperity to more
of our people.
Let me give you a few facts. In the first quarter of 2006, our economy grew
at an impressive annual rate of 5.3 percent. Since August of 2003, America has
created more than 5.3 million new jobs, more than all 25 nations of the European
Union combined. Productivity is growing, and wages are beginning to rise. And
because taxes are low, workers are keeping more of the money they earn.
Our economy is heading into the summer on the fast track, and one of the best
ways to keep our momentum going is to restrain spending in Washington, D.C.
Earlier this month, Congress took an important step by passing an emergency
spending bill that stayed within the strict spending limits I set. The bill
included necessary funding for high priorities, such as equipping our military
and rebuilding the Gulf Coast, and it showed discipline in other areas. Congress
deserves credit for meeting my spending limits, and I was pleased to sign the
emergency spending bill into law.
As Members of Congress show restraint on spending bills, they also need to
make reforms in the spending process. Under the current system, many lawmakers
are able to insert funding for pet projects into large spending bills. This
process is called earmarking, and it often results in unnecessary spending. For
example, a bill to fund our military can be loaded up with unjustified earmarks
and other spending that may not add to our national security.
This leaves Members of Congress with two bad options -- they can either vote
against the whole bill, including all the worthwhile spending, or they have to
accept the whole bill, including the wasteful spending. The President is left
with the same dilemma -- either he has to veto the entire bill or sign the bill
and approve the unnecessary spending.
There's a smarter way to handle taxpayer dollars, and it begins with granting
the President a tool called the line-item veto. A
line-item veto would allow the President to remove wasteful spending from a bill
while preserving the rest of the legislation. Forty-three of our Nation's 50
governors have line-item veto authority, and they have used that authority to
remove needless spending from otherwise good bills.
Ten years ago, Members of Congress from both parties voted to grant President
Clinton the line-item veto. However, the Supreme Court ruled that version of the
line-item veto unconstitutional because it took too much spending authority away
from the Congress. I proposed a new version of the line-item veto that fixes the
problem and gives the President a clear and constitutional way to cut wasteful
spending. Under my proposal, the President would identify a list of unnecessary
items that should be removed from a larger spending bill. Congress would then be
required to hold a prompt up-or-down vote on the list.
A line-item veto would give the President a way to insist on greater
discipline in the budget. A line-item veto would reduce the incentive for
Congress to spend wastefully because when lawmakers know their pet projects will
be held up to public scrutiny, they will be less likely to suggest them in the
first place. Most importantly, a line-item veto would benefit American taxpayers
by ensuring greater respect for their hard-earned dollars.
This past Thursday, the House of Representatives passed a bill granting
line-item-veto authority. This was a victory for the taxpayers and for spending
restraint. I call on the Senate to show a bipartisan commitment to fiscal
discipline by passing the line-item veto so we can work together to cut wasteful
spending, reduce the deficit, and save money for American taxpayers.
Thank you for listening.
line-item veto : 单项否决权
(来源:http://www.weeklyradioaddress.com/
英语点津姗姗编辑)