Jon Kyl: “I would like to just raise one of the questions that rises under the Kennedy amendment, to ask the Senator from…”

“I would like to just raise one of the questions that rises under the Kennedy amendment, to ask the Senator from Massachusetts to respond to what I think is a real dilemma that is created. I presume it is an unintentional consequence, but it is the kind of thing that we have to be very careful of because, obviously, we are amending the Constitution here. We need to be very, very careful we do not do something wrong or something that would have a consequence that would be undesirable. The Senator from Massachusetts referred to the Nunn amendment from last year, which most Members of the Senate supported, and essentially compared his amendment to the Nunn amendment. There are a couple of subtle differences which makes a big difference between the Senator's amendment and the Nunn amendment. The Nunn amendment from last year provided that absent specific legislative authority, judicial review by the courts would not be possible, that is to say, 'The courts would not have jurisdiction for claims arising under the balanced budget amendment.' And that was the language, 'for claims arising under the balanced budget amendment.' The Senator's amendment, however, provides and adds specific legislation and authorizes judicial review: 'Congress shall have exclusive authority to enforce the provisions' under the balanced budget amendment so that the courts would have no enforcement role.”