Byron Dorgan: “If we are going to be honest with senior citizens and take the money out of the trust fund and claim you take the money…”

“If we are going to be honest with senior citizens and take the money out of the trust fund and claim you take the money over here but the Federal deficit keeps growing, isn't the purpose of limiting the Federal deficit to discontinue the building of additional debt? The whole purpose here, in my judgment, is to stop burdening the shoulders of our kids and grandkids with more debt. If we claim to balance the budget at the very time the debt keeps increasing, what have we added onto our children's shoulders? Shouldn't we, and if we should, won't you join us--shouldn't we decide we want to do two things: Balance the budget and stop the Federal debt from increasing? Are those not two goals we ought to aspire to? And if we are going to require discipline in the Constitution, shouldn't we aspire to acquire that discipline rather than say we balanced the budget even as the Federal debt keeps increasing? I am not asking the Senator to respond for everybody on his side of the aisle, but I continue to ask the question, and will this week, because I think the Senator from Nevada and I have proposed something that will respond to both issues.”