On the recordJuly 21, 2011
I congratulate the Senator from Florida. I am delighted to accommodate him and join with all Floridians in a good celebration of a great part of our history. Madam President, obviously everybody in America is well aware that the date of August 2 is fast coming at us. They are also, unfortunately, well aware that the Senate and the Congress appear to be stuck yet again at this moment--in fact, here in the Senate we are debating a constitutional amendment to balance the budget instead of balancing the budget. I have heard a lot of sidesteps around here, but this is what they call a message amendment. It is sending a pretty mixed message to America. What we, in effect, ought to be doing is not trying to pass a piece of paper that tells us to do what we know we ought to do, we ought to be doing it. What we ought to be doing is stopping our country from defaulting on debt that has already been obligated. What people are refusing to do in the House on the other side of the aisle is to live up to our obligations. This is not suggesting that we are giving permission to borrow more money to spend money on something responsible in the future; this is paying the debts of our country-- money already spent, already obligated. Here we have the so-called Cut, Cap, and Balance Act that passed the House of Representatives. Everybody understands it is nothing more than an ideological message exercise. Everybody knows it is not going to pass the Senate.…
