Angie Craig: “this afternoon, the issue that brings Senators to the floor is the beginning of what I believe will be a historic debate…”

“this afternoon, the issue that brings Senators to the floor is the beginning of what I believe will be a historic debate in this Chamber, as it has been in the House the last several days of last week, and that is to debate and consider House Joint Resolution 1, a balanced budget resolution to the Constitution of our country. If I could, for a few brief moments, read to you, Mr. President, and to those who might be listening, the actual resolution. The reason I believe it is so fundamentally important that the American people and my colleagues in the Senate hear and understand what the resolution itself says is because a great deal will be said over the course of the next 3 weeks about this single 2-page document that will simply not be true. By the time we are through debating it, it will appear to some who might listen to be an overburdening action that this Government should not take. I think what is important in the processes of our constitutional requirement is for all of the Senate, and certainly for the American people, to understand that the Congress of the United States is only proposing--is only proposing--to the American people and to the 50 States a resolution that would establish a process to cause this Congress to begin to construct a budget for our country that would come into balance.”