Pete Domenici: “first of all, let me suggest that the falling dollar seems like something out in the sky that does not have an impact on…”

“first of all, let me suggest that the falling dollar seems like something out in the sky that does not have an impact on the American people. Let me suggest it has a very, very important impact on the American people. I said to my staff this morning, ``Let's not talk about Wall Street and the markets. Let's talk about a couple in their home, living in an apartment house with two children and are thinking about buying a new house.'' That is the kind of American who is going to get hurt, or the American who is thinking about buying a new car or a new refrigerator and is going to have to borrow money, because essentially as the dollar lowers in value and America's appetite for borrowed money grows because we do not have a balanced budget and we do not have any game plan to get our deficit under control, what happens is that those foreigners who invest in American debt will insist on higher interest rates. Because the dollar is worth less money, they want higher interest rates. So what are we already seeing as a result of the falling price of the dollar? We are seeing higher interest rates, higher long-term interest rates. So I want to discuss for a few minutes with the U.S. Senate and those interested in this about things we ought to be doing that we are not doing to see if we cannot stop this and put America's dollar and America's economy back, from the standpoint of the world, in the proper light, in the light it should be and should have.”