Jon Kyl: “It now appears that the balanced budget amendment will pass or fail by a single vote. If the amendment is defeated, I…”

“It now appears that the balanced budget amendment will pass or fail by a single vote. If the amendment is defeated, I would venture that there is a greater chance that UFO's will land on Earth tomorrow than there is that the Federal Government will actually balance its books by the year 2002. It is unlikely that Congress and the President will ever balance the budget without a constitutional requirement to do so. Two years ago, President Clinton vetoed a balanced budget--the first balanced budget to pass Congress in 26 years. Not one Senate Democrat voted for the plan. And of course, since it would have taken 67 votes in the Senate to override the President's veto, the balanced budget never became law. President Clinton now says he has changed his mind--that he is for a balanced budget, but once again his support is conditional: we have to wait until after he leaves office to make 98.5 percent of the savings required to get there. Until then, it is business as usual. The President would create six new entitlement programs, costing at least $60 billion over the next 5 years. He would have us increase total Federal outlays by $827 billion over that period. We can do all this, yet somehow the deficit magically disappears in 2002. I am reminded of the old Peanuts cartoon when Lucy promises time and again to hold the football still for Charlie Brown, only to pull it away at the last minute. Every Republican Senator will vote for this amendment.”