Angie Craig: “for a good number of hours today the Senate has been involved in what is an important debate, the issue of a balanced…”

“for a good number of hours today the Senate has been involved in what is an important debate, the issue of a balanced budget amendment to our Constitution. Before I begin, I want to acknowledge the hard work and leadership of several Members of the Senate and the House who have devoted many years of effort on behalf of this legislation. These have included Senator Thurmond, Senator Hatch, and of course the distinguished majority leader, Senator Dole, on our side of the aisle; Senator Simon, who is a true statesman and friend, and Senator Heflin, on the other side; and Congressmen Stenholm and Schaefer, the House authors of this amendment. This legislation has come a long way. In 1982, the Senate voted 69 to 31 to pass a balanced budget amendment. It fell 46 votes short in the House. Last year, the House passed it by 300 votes to 132. It lost here in the Senate by a single vote. Of course, we know that Senator Dole changed his vote to preserve the right to move for reconsideration. We are now in reconsideration of House Joint Resolution 1. That was after six Democrat Senators switched their vote and opposed the same language that they had voted for 1 year earlier. This is an issue, Mr. President, that is not going to go away. If it is not going to be this Congress, it certainly is going to be the next Congress or another Congress very soon that has to deal with this issue.”