Kent Conrad

If you take on too much debt, it affects the rate of economic growth in a country adversely.

I believe we were perilously close to that.

In the longer term, we have got to pivot and we have got to deal with this debt threat.

That will fundamentally threaten the economic security of the country going forward.

I think we have to be very careful not to prematurely reduce the deficit because, in many ways, we are facing what the Japanese did.

We hope to support the efforts of an official commission, whether statutory or created by Executive order.

The debt has to be controlled, you are absolutely right.

In the short term, we have got to strengthen this recovery.

I believe that job creation is primarily a function of the private sector, but we can do things to provide incentives to them to help them in that effort.

Clearly, the Federal budget is on an unsustainable path, and while nobody can predict at exactly what point excessive debt would lead us to a fiscal crisis, we can all agree that we would rather not find out.

Senator Gregg and I, who joined together after 2 years of working together on a proposal, were delighted to get 53 votes in the Senate.

I give the administration high marks for what you have done thus far to avert what I believe would have been a global financial collapse.

My understanding that the operations of those institutions are included in the CBO budget numbers now, but not in the OMB numbers.

The suggestion we do not have to do anything is just not being straight with people.

I absolutely respect his independence and his integrity.

I just want to make clear that this Committee fully appreciates not only your professionalism but your integrity.

Very few Senators dig into as many topics and as in-depth a way as Senator Wyden.

You are going to have to do something on the revenue side as well.

I believe strongly, it is critically important that we run deficits and add the debt in the short term.

There is really no alternative.

I don't see the pivot.

I believe this is a defining moment for this Chamber and for this Congress. The question before the body is will we adopt a special process to face up to the debt threat looming over this Nation. We are headed, I say to my colleagues, for…

I do not see that the Baucus amendment does fundamental damage to the amendment that follows, and to put up another 60-vote hurdle to protect Social Security is not an unreasonable request by the Senator from Montana, the chairman of the…

The problem that we confront is where we are headed. Where we are headed is towards unsustainable debt.

We have an extraordinarily inefficient system that is hemorrhaging revenue to offshore tax havens.