Adam Byrd: “I know that some of my colleagues are very troubled about this constitutional amendment--and I am directing my comments…”

“I know that some of my colleagues are very troubled about this constitutional amendment--and I am directing my comments toward the amendment that is authored by Senator Simon and several other Senators. As I talk with some of my colleagues, I know they are wrestling with the decision, and some say to me that they are very concerned about the debt and the deficit and the interest on the debt. And, of course, I understand that. I think we can handle that problem. It will take some time. We did not get into this mess exactly overnight. A little less than one-fourth of the total debt accumulated over a period of 192 years, dating from the beginning of the Republic in 1789 and continuing through 39 administrations, up until Ronald Reagan, the beginning of his Presidency in 1981. And, of course, that was a period of time in which we paid off the debts of the Revolutionary War--remember, we had to go into debt in fighting that war--paid off the debts of the Revolutionary War; fought the War of 1812 against the British; the war with Mexico, 1846 to 1848; the Civil War, 1861 to 1865; the Spanish-American War, 1898; World War I, during which I was born; World War II, the Korean war; the Vietnam war; all of these wars, the panics and recessions throughout the 19th century, and the Great Depression in the early thirties, throughout all of these events, costly as they were, we had accumulated a debt amounting to a little under $1 trillion when Mr.…”