Political Quotes

“let me answer my own question since my friend from Illinois has not; that is, there is no limit that I know of in statute on the publicly held debt. So when the Senator from Illinois points to that provision as being the self-executing provision of this language, and there is none other that could be pointed to, he is pointing to a limit which does not exist currently in law which would require the Congress to enact a limit. Each one of us upholds the Constitution of the United States within the best of our ability. We each have taken that oath. We each raise our hands. The Senator from Maine did it just a few weeks ago in this body. She has done it many times in the other body. We do not raise our hands as a group. It is not a group oath. It is an individual oath. We can carry out that oath while not agreeing with each other. As a matter of fact, we carry out that oath all the time while not agreeing with each other. If we always agreed with each other because we took an oath, there would be unanimity in this Senate instead of division. We do not always agree, although we have all taken the oath. This constitutional amendment does not require us to balance the budget in a way which can be enforced. It simply requires us to try to pass a statute within the next 7 years. There is a lot of difference.…”