Zach Nunn: “I certainly subscribe to the comments made by the Senator from Colorado, Senator Brown, as well as Senator Kerrey…”

“I certainly subscribe to the comments made by the Senator from Colorado, Senator Brown, as well as Senator Kerrey, Senator Simpson, and Senator Robb in offering this amendment which provides immediate and long-term budget reforms that are absent from the budget resolution before the Senate or is absent from any other resolution before the Senate that I am aware of. In the 1995 Kerrey-Danforth Bipartisan Commission on Entitlement and Tax Reform report, the Commission identified the following principles for its approach to long-term reform. These principles were: No. 1, we must plan for the future by addressing and solving our long-term fiscal problem head on. That is exactly what this amendment does. No. 2, we must lead by example. Congress cannot be exempt. That is also what this amendment does. No. 3, we must plan for the aging of America's population, and that is precisely, again, what this amendment does. No. 4, we must address rising health care costs by emphasizing market incentives and personal responsibility. Again, what this amendment does. No. 5, we must fulfill our promises to today's retirees and ensure the long-term solvency of Social Security. Again, right on point.”