Cord Byrd

The Senator has not answered my question. What is meant by the words ``appropriate legislation'' in section 6? I want to point out the big hole that section 6 provides for the Congress, so that Congress can avoid section 1 of the…

I will finish my sentence. I thank the Senator from Utah for his usual courtesy. We will not be bound by section 1. We can do it by way of section 6, which does not require a three-fifths vote for a waiver. And we will be complying with…

There is a massive problem here. For some reason --and I think the distinguished manager has put his finger on it --the constitutional amendment refers to actions by the Congress that constitute laws--until we get down to section 6…

I thank my friend. Mr. President, section 1 of the constitutional amendment to balance the budget lays it out in a very straightforward way. It says in plain English that outgo shall not exceed income. ``Spending shall not exceed income in…

And to reduce the deficits, but I do not think we ought to go about it by way of a constitutional amendment. But the Senator from Utah continues to talk about the present system, the weaknesses of the present system. Section 6 is in the…

When they voted for the conference report on the line-item veto. They voted to shift the power of the purse away from the legislative branch to the executive. What makes the Senator believe that they will live up to the Constitution…

I have proved that I will do everything I can to balance the budget. But not only this Senator. They are standing in rows on this side of the aisle. In 1993, they voted to lower the deficits by almost $500 billion. Working with the…

I am on the Constitution's side. And I do not want to see that Constitution prostituted by an amendment that is nothing more than a bookkeeping manual on accounting principles. It has no place in the Constitution. It is not going to give…

Mr. President, I commend the distinguished senior Senator from Connecticut for his amendment, and for his very thorough explanation of it. There is, as he has said, no higher duty than this body has than to safeguard the security and…

There will not be any different system because the Congress itself will enforce that amendment by appropriate legislation.

I hope that Senators will look carefully at section 6 of the proposed constitutional amendment and that they will also look very carefully at the words of the committee report, which deals specifically with section 6. The distinguished…

the measure before the Senate is a proposed amendment to the Constitution mandating a balanced budget annually. It is unconstitution-like. I am not saying it is unconstitutional. If it is riveted into the Constitution, of course it would…

The Congress shall enforce and implement this article by appropriate legislation. So we are going to continue to enforce it. We are going to continue to operate under a statutory system. That is what I am saying. We have been operating…

Will Senators be more inclined to vote to increase taxes once this is part of the Constitution than they are now?

Would the Senator explain to me why the Judiciary Committee, in its analysis of section 6, took the pains to explain that "estimates," for example, "means good faith, responsible, and reasonable estimates made with honest intent to…

May I ask the distinguished Senator, who is going to be the judge of whether an estimate has been rendered in good faith, whether it is a responsible estimate, or whether there is a reasonable estimate?

No. The green line means the estimate was, indeed, right on target. It was not above or below the line. It was not too high. It was not too low. Would the Senator agree with me that based on this chart, in every year from 1980 to 1996, the…

I marvel at his equanimity, his characteristic, and his never-failing courtesy. This is the way he has always been with me. But I must say that, notwithstanding that, I am amazed to hear the distinguished Senator stand on the floor this…

This is not going to be real--section 6. It is not real. It talks about estimates. Now we are going to switch from section 1, which says total outlays shall not exceed total receipts in any fiscal year. In the first place, how do we know…

What about all the Senators coming to the floor and saying the sky is falling, debt is bad, interest on the debt is bad, deficits are bad, and we have to do something about it and take the burden off our children, and vote for a balanced…

Well then, why are we going to wait 5 years to do something better if the Senator has something better?

the Senator speaks of guts. It doesn't take guts to vote for this thing. It takes guts to vote against it.

Except the Constitution, if one-fifth indicate that they want to vote. That doesn't happen often. That is very seldom on raising the debt limit. That is very seldom on passing the final budget here.

It takes guts to vote against it because the great majority of the American people have been bamboozled about this amendment. They support this, and they are very much in favor of it. So it takes guts to vote against it. Why does the…

I think the committee report language that was prepared by the committee, of which the distinguished Senator from Utah is chairman, makes one of the best cases against this amendment. He says there won't be any more games played. Take a…