It is designed so that Members of the Senate who under pressure from the administration or because of persuasion from Senator Byrd or whatever other reason, they want to vote against Senate Joint Resolution 41, the real thing, but they…

I would like to put anybody on notice that there will be an amendment offered by my friend and colleague, Senator Harry Reid of Nevada. Senator Reid, in my opinion, is one of the finest Members of this body. He has shown courage; he does…

Senator Metzenbaum has just illustrated why it is going to be a great loss not to have him in the U.S. Senate. I happened, back many years ago, to have served in military intelligence when I was in the Army. I think the bill he offers…

I want to pay tribute to Senator Thurmond, who has been a pioneer in fighting for this. I believe Senator Thurmond told me he has been fighting for this for 35 years, but it has been a long time. I am proud to be associated with him in…

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…

let me make one other point that I should have made to Senator Conrad earlier when I talked about countercyclical effect. I mentioned that those who now receive the $293 billion in interest are more likely to save the money than someone…

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

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.

Judge Bell basically says he does not think this would be a great problem. We do have, very clearly, the ability to determine who has standing. We can say there has to be 30 Members of the Congress, or whatever, so there would not be a…

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.

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…

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…