Rep. Jim Nussle, R-Iowa, Chairman of the Budget Committee

This is a partial transcript from Your World with Neil Cavuto, January 8, 2003, that was edited for clarity. Click here for complete access to all of Neil Cavuto's CEO interviews.

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NEIL CAVUTO, HOST: What's this? An even bigger tax cut? Just how much all this will cost has to get the approval of my next guest.

Congressman Jim Nussle joins us right now. He is the man who runs the House Budget Committee.

Mr. Chairman, good to have you.

REP. JIM NUSSLE, R-IOWA, CHAIRMAN, BUDGET COMMITTEE: Thank you, nice to be with you.

CAVUTO: How important was extending these benefits to you guys to send a message? What were you trying to do?

NUSSLE: Well, there are families out that are needing to pay their bills. And in order to help them tide them over, this is a way to deal with a very difficult situation. We're approaching about 800,000 workers who have lost their job. We need to help them. We need to make sure that their families can pay the bills. That in part does help stimulate the economy to some extent because it allows them to continue to pay the credit cards, pay for what happened over Christmas, make ends meet as they are dealing with a difficult situation. So it's one of the parts of an economic package to get the economy growing again.

CAVUTO: Were you concerned, Mr. Chairman that some more conservative members in your party worry that this sets maybe a tone that the longer people are out of work, they can keep getting help from the government and that maybe, in a perverse sense, it is bad message to send?

NUSSLE: Well, there are always difficult situations that is face the government during these kinds of times when you deal with precedent. But what we need to think about are the families and the individuals that are dealing with circumstances that are outside their control. This is an economy that was in recession when President Bush took office. September 11 made it even more difficult. And that needs to be dealt with. These are circumstances outside of everyone's control.

CAVUTO: Right.

NUSSLE: And we need to deal with that as best as we can.

CAVUTO: Chairman Nussle. Thank you very much. Congressman Jim Nussle.

NUSSLE: Thank you.

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