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Having said that, I believe we must not compound the natural disaster of Katrina by creating a fiscal disaster in Congress - it is our duty to ensure that we reign in other government spending in any event, and especially in this time of national emergency.

The fact is that it is reasonable for us to say that there is going to be an emergency that happens in this country that we cannot budget for. Katrina is an example.

This is a basic function of Congress to keep the government running. And so, what we ought not to do is play politics with those who have been affected by disasters.

The cold harsh reality is that we have to balance the budget.

Well, first of all, let's go right to it. We're going to balance the budget. We should live within our own means, and we should read the bills and work with the American people.

I think we should balance the federal budget tomorrow. I'm optimistic. I think Americans are optimistic. We went to the moon; we can balance the federal budget.

The larger the disaster, the more necessary it is to have the government as the principal driver of recovery.

It is proper that the federal government help alleviate short-term disruptions and price spikes such as those brought about by Hurricane Katrina.

What's really important to me is that we have fiscally responsible balanced budgets.

We're on the verge of a financial collapse unless we balance the budget, and that means some really, really tough decisions.