Tina Smith: “If I might just respond to the Senator, his point is well taken. However we have a situation where I think we are mixing…”

“If I might just respond to the Senator, his point is well taken. However we have a situation where I think we are mixing apples and oranges. The Senator is assuming--we did not have an amendment at the time, we did not have a $5 trillion national debt in 1941. We did not have a situation where the Members who were debating knew that they would need a certain number of votes to get over the top to be able to declare war. It is an entirely different situation. You cannot compare 1941 with 1995--you can, but I do not believe it is a fair comparison. I think things were different then. The situation was different. The debate was different. The issues were different. I think in this particular case if the emergency was such, under the amendment--if the emergency were such that we needed to do something in the area of national security, it could be done either by a three-fifths vote of both parties to deficit spend to take care of it--which is one option. If they do not want to do that, then they have other options. But I think to say 1941 when Roosevelt declared war is the same as it is today is simply wrong. The issue is, we can deficit spend. That is the first option. Or we can cut spending somewhere else. And that is exactly what most responsible people would do in the future, who are here on the floor of the Senate or in the House, wherever the debate takes place--in both places.”