Cord Byrd

Senate rules do not require that amendments be germane except under rule XVI dealing with appropriations bills. We are hearing all this hue and cry the last day or so that some of the amendments are not germane. I hope Senators will…

Yes, I reserve the right to object. Mr. President, I thank the distinguished majority leader for reading the request that has been presented to me. First of all, let me say I think we are shortcutting the legislative process too much. Let…

Why not eliminate these two paragraphs, eliminate the risk of litigation, eliminate the risk of running afoul of the Constitution in respect to the separation of powers? This troubles me. Why have language in the bill that would open up…

It does not name the agency. It is obviously--to me--not the Congressional Budget Office. It says, ``responsible Federal agency.'' To me, it is referring to an executive branch agency, some agency in the executive branch.

It seems to me it is incumbent on the Senate to eliminate this provision until such time as the issue is more fully debated.

As the distinguished Senator has correctly, in my judgment pointed out, this is a separation of powers issue. The agency will void the mandate if the appropriations committee at any point in the future provides insufficient funding to…

Why do we leave it in the hands of a Federal agency to determine whether or not a mandate should be nullified or should be modified? Why should a Federal agency determine on the basis of 'less money, less mandate'? Why should not the…

This section provides two new Budget Act points of order in the Senate. The first makes it out of order in the Senate to consider any bill or joint resolution reported by a committee that contains a Federal mandate unless a CBO statement…

Well, strike out all reference to appropriations, and then the authorizing committees could review them every year if they want to.

I think we are opening up a Pandora's box here, if we are going to provide authority to an executive branch agency to modify or to nullify a mandate if the Appropriations Committees of the Congress do not provide the full appropriations…

Under the Constitution, only the Congress has the power to enact laws, and only the Congress can appropriate moneys. If there is a need to rescind or to repeal or to modify, why does the legislative branch not do that? Why turn that over…

This locks in, as the distinguished Senator from Michigan has stated, it locks in for the life of any new mandate, 5 years, 10 years, 20 years, or whatever the CBO estimates for every future year. This means that even if we find in some…

Well, as I said earlier, I may vote for this unfunded mandates bill. I probably will. I do not know yet. I still want to study it some, and may offer an amendment or so. But I am a little bit surprised that the leader is implying that a…

By denying the minority, the American people were likewise denied. Again, this is arrogance, arrogance, to deny the minority the right to present its individual and minority views in a committee report. I thought that was what the American…

I do not mean for the Senator to address that particular aspect of it. That was not my point. I do not expect this bill to address that aspect of it. But Mrs. Boxer and others are obviously very concerned with respect to the unfunded…

It seems to me that a good legislator would seek to know what is in a bill. I am just trying to play the part of what I think a good legislator ought to do. A good legislator ought to try to understand what is in a bill. And we have been…

That is why I voted for the 1990 package that was developed at the summit among the Republicans and the Democrats, when Mr. Bush was President. That is why I voted for the 1993 package. Not a Member, not one of our friends on the other…

Of course they are entitled to know what is in the plan. And we have a responsibility, in my judgment, before we rivet this piece of garbage into the Constitution, we have a responsibility to tell them what our plans are, how we expect to…

I personally favor a sunset provision in this legislation. We are reading and hearing a great deal about welfare reform. I think that if we had had a sunset provision in the laws regulating and governing welfare in this country we would…

I thought progress was being made on the bill. It seems to me that the Senate was working its will.

I am not out to kill this bill. I may vote for it. And I am in no position to know--I am in no position to say how soon we will pass this bill. It may be today, it may be tomorrow, it may be Friday. I do not know. I was a bit astonished…

I reacted the same way that the distinguished Senator from North Dakota reacted. It is arrogance. It is a new ``Caesarism.'' It is the same arrogance that is displayed by those who beat the drums for a constitutional amendment on the…

Mr. President, first on another matter. There is an adage among computer users that says ``garbage in, garbage out.'' What that means, of course, is that if unreliable or incomplete information is put into a computer, then unreliable or…

the fact is that States receive massive amounts of Federal funds. In fact, we provide so much money to the States that it takes a separate 373-page report--right here it is, a separate 373-page report--from the Office of Management and…

this kind of underlines everything I was saying earlier today and last Friday and Thursday. What is all this big hurry? Here we are, this is the 17th of January, and why can we not be legislators and take time to understand what is in a…