Cord Byrd: “I hope that my remarks today will have helped to shed light on the devastation which will take place if we do not muster…”

“I hope that my remarks today will have helped to shed light on the devastation which will take place if we do not muster up the courage to say no to the balanced budget amendment now before the Senate. It does not make any difference, Mr. President, if you have a vocabulary of 10,000 words, make it 20,000, make it 30,000. If you cannot say no, then all of that vast vocabulary will not amount to a great deal. We have been elected by the people to come here and to work hard to develop and enact legislation that is in their best interest--not in ours as politicians, not what will get us votes in the next election or the next one or the next one, but in the best interest of the people. Surely we can screw up our courage to the sticking place to stay the course and continue to cut the Federal deficit in responsible doses. We cannot afford to risk the economic security of this Nation by passing this unseen pig in a very large poke. I remind the Governors, Mr. President, that the devastation to the States, as shown through these charts, is going to happen irrespective of the recently passed, highly touted unfunded mandates legislation. Congress will brush that aside. It only takes a majority vote. That is not binding on the next Congress, not even binding on this one, if Congress chooses to brush it aside. That bill is not going to protect one single State from the costs and responsibility of dealing with their problem absent Federal dollars.”