Pete Domenici: “Now, also, I want to remind the Senators, with reference to defense, Senator Nunn and I have been trying to restore the…”

“Now, also, I want to remind the Senators, with reference to defense, Senator Nunn and I have been trying to restore the firewalls between discretionary defense and nondefense, and had we had those in place, I clearly might have been more willing to support the Exon-Grassley type cut. But the amendment to put the walls back under our processes takes 60 votes, and we have not been successful in getting that done. So I do not want to relive the last months of battle on that, but my reason for not supporting the budget resolution is even more simple. The conference report on the 1995 budget, once again, as I view it, sends the wrong signal and moves in the wrong direction. It sends wrong signals to the American public on how to really address the Federal deficit. Last year, the signal was taxes and defense cuts, and I believe I have gone through that. My statement--that we have essentially cut defense and raised taxes as a way to get the deficit under control thus far--is supported by the Congressional Budget Office in its latest evaluation. I do not think that sends the right signal to the American people about how to get the deficit under control. We can continue to reduce discretionary spending, implicitly defense spending, and this resolution comes before us and says while we are reducing discretionary spending, we increase entitlement spending over and above the current policy.”