let me respond to the remarks made last evening by the distinguished President pro tempore, one of the finest Members to have ever served in this body, Senator Robert Byrd. I have great respect for Senator Byrd and I ordinarily agree with…

That is a great tribute to Senator Patrick Moynihan in addition to being a great tribute to Bill Clinton. They made some tough decisions. I remember the Senator coming into the Democratic caucus and saying, ``We did this because we had…

But down to the bottom. It says future generations--way down at the bottom there, next-to-the-last line. You go over with reconciliation and with health care reform and with all the optimistic assumptions, 10 years solid growth, no dip…

What happens before that, according to history--and maybe we can be the first country since ancient Florence and all the others not to do this--what happens is then you start monetizing the debt. You start printing the money. I think, as…

Let me just add, in terms of amending the Constitution and on financial things, Thomas Jefferson, of course, favored an absolute prohibition against Federal borrowing, and Alexander Hamilton later-- Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton…

I have a letter from Charles Bowsher, the Comptroller General of the United States, dated February 18, in which, among other things, he says the deficit problem, of course, has not gone away, the forces for escalation of the deficit are…

I respect my colleague but, again, no matter if he votes wrong on this issue from my perspective, he has contributed immensely to this Nation by providing the leadership that got us to the reconciliation last August. That grandchild that…

The figure that the Senator is using is a figure that Senator Fritz Hollings points out we should not use, and that is net interest. There is no area of Government where we subtract the earnings before we calculate the interest. So that…

And I will get into the court matter on my time. But the reality is you have to have some form of estimates. And the way that becomes tough--in fact, according to the Senator from West Virginia, too tough--is it takes a three-fifths…

If I may respond, first, this changes the dimensions of what you do in the Budget Committee. We are not dealing simply with a statute. The Senator and I took an oath when we stood up there to protect the Constitution. This is now part of…

My colleague is absolutely on target. The cases are very rare. There have been a few, but they are rare indeed. So the combination of that experience, plus the other amendment should really preclude any problem along this line.

Let me tell you the rationale. First, originally, when I drafted my first balanced budget amendment, I included that, interestingly. The reality is that we do have a surplus at this point right now in Social Security. I would like to…

But it is going back up, according to OMB. You have 1996. But if you take a look, it goes back up to 3.3 percent in the year 2004, and up from there, according to GAO.

But GAO predicted in June of 1992 that by the year 2020 we would have in excess of 20 percent deficit relative to GDP.

That is correct. That is adjusted down somewhat. But GAO tells me the same basic trends are there. And no nation has come anywhere close to that without, as the Senator points out, monetizing the debt.

Look down to 1930--I was born in 1928. You will see I will spend about an average of 30 percent. The Senator from New York, born roughly the same time, maybe a little before me, roughly the same.

I commend my colleague from Alaska--and particularly since he is a former banker-- for his comments about interest. We are really at a fork in the road where we are going to determine whether we are going to have higher interest rates in…

Yes, I will oppose the amendment. I have great respect for Senator Dorgan who, on a number of things, has shown real insight, including standing up on the issue of intangible assets, which is one of those issues someday somebody is going…

First of all, I agree with everything my colleague from North Dakota says in terms of Social Security. I think it was a mistake when we got a unified budget. We talk about this being the 25th anniversary of balanced budgets. In fact, in…

What a great lift this would be for housing, construction, industrial investment--everything.

The answer is a little complicated. But, first of all I do believe that in a real recession we can get the 60 votes. We got 60 votes for unemployment compensation extension on an emergency basis because of the problems that we have had…

I am not saying we are automatically going to be opposed to any amendment, but when you talk about the Constitution of the United States we have to be extremely careful. I can say, on the matter of estimates, there is no way to my…

The answer is on the basis of what I know I do not believe I have the votes to pass this. I do not believe Senator Byrd has the votes to stop it. I think Senators like my colleague from North Dakota hold the balance on this.

Let me just say again in response, we will take a look at whatever is suggested. We felt the judicial amendment was not necessary, but just to make sure, because there are genuine concerns, as you have expressed and others have, I think we…

I heard Senator Brown the other day say if this does not pass, then we will, before the decade is out as the situation gets more extreme, pass a more extreme constitutional amendment. I think that is the reality. As my colleague from Utah…