Cord Byrd: “we have the suggestion that the Congress could just stand up and declare that certain amounts of the deficit, as long as…”

“we have the suggestion that the Congress could just stand up and declare that certain amounts of the deficit, as long as we determined them to be ``negligible,'' they are not in violation of the amendment. A $25 billion deviation--Congress could say it is OK. It is small. It is small in comparison to what? When considered in the context of a budget that is $1.5 trillion, it is negligible. But if we were to constitutionalize the mandate that outlays must not exceed receipts--outlays must not exceed receipts, let me say that to my friend--if we were to constitutionalize the mandate that outlays must not exceed receipts, a congressional attempt to deviate from that requirement would bring the moral authority of the entire Constitution into question. I will say that again. If we were to constitutionalize a mandate that outlays shall not exceed receipts--that is what the amendment says. I did not write it. I do not subscribe to it.”