Political Quotes

“I will have much more to say on the substance of this amendment which I strongly oppose. But I want now to comment specifically on the changes that the sponsors have insisted on making to their amendment, and what I believe this means in terms of the amendment itself. The first is of course to push it into the next century, a time when many if not most of the sponsors will not be here to face the consequences. That is the first point. If this was such a great idea, why do those who support it want to push its implementation into the next century? The answer is obvious. This amendment is a gimmick. It is an effort to suggest action when those involved are refusing to take action. It is no coincidence that of the 55 Senators who are sponsors of this amendment which purports to balance the budget, 40 of them voted against the deficit reduction plan proposed last year, the single most important and effective action in dealing with the Federal budget deficit that this Senate has taken. I repeat that. This amendment says we have a serious deficit problem, so serious that we have to amend the Constitution. And yet 40 of the 55 sponsors of this amendment voted against the single most important action to deal with the deficit ever taken by this Senate. And the second modification says that this amendment cannot be enforced. The sponsors of the amendment are demanding that it be changed to make certain that it cannot ever, under any circumstances, be enforced.”