Kent Conrad: “let me take a few minutes to talk about the two amendments I have offered that are now pending. The first amendment I…”

“let me take a few minutes to talk about the two amendments I have offered that are now pending. The first amendment I offered says we should not add to new spending initiatives or tax cuts until we have a full idea of the cost of this war. As my colleagues know, there is no provision in this budget, either in the one sent to us by the President or the one that has come out of the Budget Committee, for war costs. We know the number is not zero. That is the number that is in the budget. So the first amendment I offered is to make it more difficult to add to deficits by spending or tax cuts, with two exceptions. On the spending side we would have an exception for national defense or homeland security. On the tax-cutting side, we would have an exception for a stimulus package with costs in 2003 or 2004. So that is the first amendment I have offered. The second amendment I have offered would reduce the tax cut by $1.2 trillion, still leaving a $150 billion tax cut but using the $1.2 trillion to strengthen Social Security, given the fact that the baby boom generation is about to retire, given the fact under the budget resolution before us, virtually every penny of Social Security surplus during the entire next decade is being used to pay for other things. It is being used to pay for tax cuts. It is being used to pay for other expenses of Government. Those are the two amendments I have pending. I hope very much my colleagues will give serious consideration to them.”