Dan Coats: “once again we are debating the balanced budget. We should not, any longer, be debating the balanced budget. We should be…”

“once again we are debating the balanced budget. We should not, any longer, be debating the balanced budget. We should be living by a balanced budget. Americans have lost their patience with this endless, fruitless process of debating the issue and our failure to achieve the issue. The question now before us, again, is simple: How do we finally make this commitment real, make it lasting, and make it binding? The Democrats have argued--and I am not referring to the 13 Democrats that supported this effort in that close, almost historic vote that took place over a year ago; I am referring to Democrats because no Republicans are arguing against a balanced budget in this debate-- Democrats have argued in the past that a balanced budget amendment is unnecessary. ``Let's not amend the Constitution,'' they say, ``just simply balance the books ourselves.'' Last year, during debate on this amendment, the minority leader stated, ``The budget is not going to be balanced in 2002 unless the responsible people in 1995 start to focus on their share of the work.'' Senator Kerrey added, ``Let Senators get to work to show Americans we have the courage this amendment presumes that we lack.'' Now, that argument had some credibility when we made this debate in 1995, although it has been argued now for more than a decade, but it did have some credibility at the time. It is our responsibility.…”