Byron Dorgan: “let me add a final comment about this, and to say that in the coming days, if and when Senators come to the floor to try…”

“let me add a final comment about this, and to say that in the coming days, if and when Senators come to the floor to try to revise history or describe what happened in a manner that does not comport with what I think happened last week, others of us will come to the floor to correct it. We will not let stand assertions by some who say ``Gee, the only reason we lost this vote on the constitutional amendment to balance the budget was because some people did not understand what we were trying to do. We had no intention of using the Social Security trust funds.'' Well, in private conversations, we were told, ``Look, fellows; in this language, we all understand you cannot balance the budget without using the Social Security trust funds.'' I wish we had heard that in public, as well, and maybe the American people would understand more clearly what was behind the political circumstances last week. In fact, a lot of this was just politics, as all of us know. Twenty-four hours after the vote, the Republican National Committee already had their advertisements on the air, paid for and running. They knew what they were doing. The slash and burn attack of politics is fine. They can do that. They have the money. But it is all about politics. The fact is, we have a serious budget deficit problem in this country. We ought to fix it. We ought not raid the Social Security trust fund to do it.”