Cord Byrd

Number one, the Senator has stated that all of the Reagan budgets were dead on arrival. I call the distinguished Senator's attention to the fact that some of those budgets were subjected to a vote in this body or the other body or both and…

The Congress reduced Mr. Reagan's budgets in some of those years, in some of the Reagan years. Going back to 1945, the accumulated requests of all the Presidents exceeded the accumulated appropriations by the Congress--exceeded the…

It is about more than that. That is why we need to take the time to probe and to explore these provisions that are in this amendment to balance the budget. We are all in agreement, I say to the Senator, with the goal of a balanced budget…

But now we are going to be in a very different situation if this Constitution is going to be amended. And it will not be amended for just a year or so; it will be changed from now until kingdom come, unless the American people and Congress…

I thank the Chair. May I take just a moment here to compliment the Republican Senators who have been sitting in the chair from the very beginning of this session. In the main, I think they have done very well. They have presided over the…

This Senator is saying simply that the Congress ought to continue to be involved under the present Constitution which has provided very well for congressional actions to meet all emergencies that have occurred throughout the 206-year…

Well, there is enough to go around, but in the case of the 1993 budget deficit reduction package, I would shift the blame in large measure, to those who did not support that deficit reduction package. They sat here in the Senate. They sat…

There was not any approval in the case of his invasion of Haiti. The invasion actually started.

But the President, Mr. Reagan, never once submitted a balanced budget to the Congress.

can the Senator--he was talking about disasters and how normally there are the votes here in the House and Senate to respond to supplemental requests for disasters and thereby waive this deficit requirement as it would appear in the new…

It also illustrates that Jefferson was embarrassed by what he had said, and later he said he was embarrassed by it. But he said because of the laws of necessity the means sometimes are worthy of the end.

Thomas Jefferson was not at the Constitutional Convention, as the Senator knows. He was the President of the United States from 1801 to 1809, and when he was President, why did not he ask the Congress to adopt a constitutional amendment to…

I did not say the amendment would have blocked the Louisiana Purchase. I am saying, like Napoleon did, that two plus two equals four. Read it.

Most supermajorities are in the Constitution to protect the structure of that Constitution. Let us talk about expulsion, the expulsion of a Senator, or the conviction of a President in an impeachment trial. They are there to protect…

Total outlays for any fiscal year shall not exceed total receipts for any fiscal year.'' You cannot get away from it. It has you by the neck.

So what they are saying is, ``Roll it over, roll it over to the next year, that is OK.'' That is not what the American people out there are expecting from those who are the proponents of this balanced budget amendment. The proponents are…

I would much rather have an exchange out here than just standing and reading a speech. I really mean that. I would like to see more of an exchange rather than just written speeches. So I am not perturbed by it. I am encouraged by it. At…

The Senator is now talking about providing for a minority veto, a minority veto. The Framers provided for a majoritarian, democratic rule. The Senator is now talking about reverting to nondemocratic supermajority rule. I was going to wait…

And I will. But what he is saying here is that any Senator can, as a ticket for his vote--as a ticket for his vote to raise the debt limit, as a ticket for his vote to waive the deficit requirements--may say to the majority, ``I want mine…

The Senator said ``something we would have to face?'' The Senator will not be around here after next year to face it. And I will not be around here many more years to face it. How do we know what future Congresses will say? We say we will…

Whatever, 21 or 20 or 18 or 19. The point I am saying is the estimates simply do not work out. They are always wrong. And in this constitutional amendment here, that is the Achilles' heel. The word ``estimates'' is the Achilles' heel. They…

Please take a look at the amendment which you are supporting. It does not say anything about building up a surplus in 1 year. It does not say anything about 3 percent or 2 percent or 10 percent or 20 percent. It says, ``Total outlays for…

Some amendments, especially those that were passed during the Civil War and the Reconstruction era, specifically provide for implementing legislation.

In the original Constitution, there are six. In the 12th amendment, there is one dealing with the election of the Vice President by the Senate. In the 14th, there is one dealing with the waiving--in the case of individuals who have taken…

There is the midsession review. But, I say to the Senator, that midsession review still is going to be based on estimates. It cannot actually foresee what the revenues will be for the remaining months, or what the outlays will be.