mr. chairman , i thank the gentleman for yielding me this time . 
i rise to commend the gentleman from texas ( mr. hensarling ) xz4001750 , who is a man of principle and a man of personal courage , in his quest to restore fiscal discipline to washington , d.c . 
in just a few short years , the gentleman from texas ( mr. hensarling ) xz4001750 has emerged as a national leader on fiscal restraint in washington , d.c. , and it is an honor for me to be associated with his handiwork in support of the hensarling amendment . 
i too join in the chorus of those conservatives who have spoken tonight in commendation of the gentleman from iowa ( chairman nussle ) , who has , in fact , produced the most conservative budget since the historic years of the reagan administration . 
and the gentleman from iowa ( mr. nussle ) xz4002980 , who history may be calling him to other duties sometime soon , will leave a lasting and indelible mark on the budget at the federal level , and we are grateful for his principled leadership and support as well . 
i do support the hensarling amendment , though , which today was endorsed by the 350 , 000-member national taxpayers union , americans for tax reform , just to name a few , because it is long past time for congress to put our fiscal house in order . 
the omb estimates the total fiscal outlays in 2005 will be a stunning 33 percent higher than outlays as recently as fiscal year 2001 . 
we have seen extraordinary growth in various departments , including spending in the department of education , which has grown at almost twice the rate of even military spending . 
spending at the labor department will have risen 26 percent during the same period . 
the rsc budget , known as the hensarling amendment , would provide for needed restraint by reducing nondefense-related discretionary spending by 2 percent and calling for $ 57 billion more in savings than the committee on the budget 's budget ; but better yet , the rsc 's budget would dramatically enhance the possibility that members will adhere to the spending levels set out in the budget resolution by providing bold initiatives in process reform , point of order protection , forcing congress to define emergency spending and account for it in the budget , creating budget protection accounts that would allow spending cuts to be directed toward deficit reduction or tax relief , just to name a few proposals . 
the rsc budget is an opportunity for members of congress to vote for the president 's number on defense and homeland security and a little bit less than the committee on the budget 's number on everything else . 
voting for the rsc budget is voting for finding more savings in the largest category of federal spending , mandatory spending . 
and voting for the rsc budget is voting for a way to enforce the budget that the house passes and to embrace a series of budget process reforms , which , if they are not successful in the hensarling amendment , may yet be entertained by the 109th congress in the months and days ahead . 
i strongly support the gentleman from texas ( mr. hensarling ) xz4001750 , his courage , his principle ; and i urge support of all of my colleagues of the hensarling amendment . 
