U.S. State Secretaries of State

Well, there is enough to go around, but in the case of the 1993 budget deficit reduction package, I would shift the blame in large measure, to those who did not support that deficit reduction package. They sat here in the Senate. They sat…

Senator, ``You cram these words into mine ears against the stomach of my sense.'' The Senator spoke of the omnibus continuing resolution. I have a little grandson who would say, ``Do you know what?'' Well, do you know what? On that…

Well, President Carter did. President Carter once submitted a balanced budget. I sat right over here in room 211. I was then the majority leader of the Senate. I sat over in room 211 on a weekend, brought my little paper bag, with some…

But the President, Mr. Reagan, never once submitted a balanced budget to the Congress.

The Congress reduced Mr. Reagan's budgets in some of those years, in some of the Reagan years. Going back to 1945, the accumulated requests of all the Presidents exceeded the accumulated appropriations by the Congress--exceeded the…

Number one, the Senator has stated that all of the Reagan budgets were dead on arrival. I call the distinguished Senator's attention to the fact that some of those budgets were subjected to a vote in this body or the other body or both and…

Total outlays for any fiscal year shall not exceed total receipts for any fiscal year.'' You cannot get away from it. It has you by the neck.

I did not say the amendment would have blocked the Louisiana Purchase. I am saying, like Napoleon did, that two plus two equals four. Read it.

It also illustrates that Jefferson was embarrassed by what he had said, and later he said he was embarrassed by it. But he said because of the laws of necessity the means sometimes are worthy of the end.

Thomas Jefferson was not at the Constitutional Convention, as the Senator knows. He was the President of the United States from 1801 to 1809, and when he was President, why did not he ask the Congress to adopt a constitutional amendment to…

And I will. But what he is saying here is that any Senator can, as a ticket for his vote--as a ticket for his vote to raise the debt limit, as a ticket for his vote to waive the deficit requirements--may say to the majority, ``I want mine…

The Senator is now talking about providing for a minority veto, a minority veto. The Framers provided for a majoritarian, democratic rule. The Senator is now talking about reverting to nondemocratic supermajority rule. I was going to wait…

Senator, you say ``we have built into this.'' Where does it say that in the amendment? Where does it say it?

This amendment? What are we talking about here? I thought we were debating a constitutional amendment to balance the budget. It does not say anything about an adjustment.

The Senator said ``something we would have to face?'' The Senator will not be around here after next year to face it. And I will not be around here many more years to face it. How do we know what future Congresses will say? We say we will…

Whatever, 21 or 20 or 18 or 19. The point I am saying is the estimates simply do not work out. They are always wrong. And in this constitutional amendment here, that is the Achilles' heel. The word ``estimates'' is the Achilles' heel. They…

It is not May. What I said about May was that under the 1974 act, Congress is supposed to pass a budget resolution which lays out the anticipated outlays, the anticipated receipts and the anticipated deficits, and then, only after then can…

This is my argument. I want the Senator to keep in view in his mental vision what the amendment says. ``Total outlays shall not exceed total receipts for any fiscal year.''

That is what they are saying with respect to the disaster or to those parts of the supplemental requests that do not deal with defense. I am not arguing whether they are reasonable or whether they are not.

As I read, they said they would be happy to comply with the request as it pertains to defense.

Wait, just wait, Senator. I was not born yesterday. I am directing your attention to this language. This is the language. This is what we will vote on. Not what somebody is talking about in West Virginia or Pennsylvania or anywhere else…

I go back to this plain and simple language, Senator. You can argue with me as long as you want to argue, until you are blue in the face, but your argument does not, in plain, simple English language--and that is your amendment; that is…

Can the Senator--he was talking about disasters and how normally there are the votes here in the House and Senate to respond to supplemental requests for disasters and thereby waive this deficit requirement as it would appear in the new…

Does the Senator feel that with the House majority leadership taking a clear and strong position against supplemental appropriations for this purpose, is the Senator about to tell me that three-fifths of the House would vote to waive it…