Political Quotes

“first, two points made by my friend--and he is my friend--from Nevada, Senator Reid, on the language of our amendment. We have gone over this carefully in all kinds of hearings. The only language change is the Danforth language on judicial involvement, and that was done very carefully. Mr. President, some heard Senator Danforth speak on the floor saying he checked that language with people as varied as Judge Bork, on the right, and Prof. Laurence Tribe of Harvard. We also checked this out with constitutional authorities. It was very, very carefully done. When we are dealing with a constitutional amendment, we ought to do it carefully. There have been no hearings on the Reid amendment. It is hastily put together. It is obvious from the language it is hastily put together. On Social Security, it is ironic, Mr. President, because in the Budget Committee, I have been the leader in terms of defending Medicare for Social Security recipients. The chief actuary of the Social Security Administration for 23 years, Robert Myers, has written me a letter saying the most important thing we can do to protect Social Security funds is to pass your amendment. The reality is the great danger is monetizing the debt, printing money if we just keep piling up this debt. If we go that route, Social Security trust funds are going to be devastated. Our amendment protects Social Security, and no other amendment protects Social Security.”