Kent Conrad: “I go back to where I started. The debt is the threat. This budget before us increases the debt $600 billion a year, each…”

“I go back to where I started. The debt is the threat. This budget before us increases the debt $600 billion a year, each and every year of its term. That is the reality. That is the budget we have before us. It is the obligation of the majority to offer a budget, and they have done so. It is our obligation to comment and critique their budget, which we have done. The most important critique that I offered is that this budget explodes the debt. It is undeniable. It is clear. Their own numbers show that it explodes the debt. Beyond that, the chairman references what happened in the committee. I believe he didn't mention our first amendment--it will be our first amendment on the floor--which is a pay-go amendment to restore budget discipline to require that if you want to have more mandatory spending, you have to pay for it. And if you want to have more tax cuts, you have to pay for them. But they defeated that budget discipline. They defeated that budget discipline, and they proposed this budget that explodes the debt. In addition, every one of our amendments--I don't know where the chairman got his number--that cost $128 billion in committee, we provided $134 billion of funding for those amendments. We reduced the buildup of deficit and debt by $6 billion. But that is not the point. The point is, what needs to be done--and I think the chairman might agree with this--is to take on this debt threat. The only way it is going to happen is if we do it together.…”