The Public Record
Kent Conrad is a former United States Senator from North Dakota, serving from 1993 to 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, he was known for his work on fiscal policy and budget issues, particularly as the Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee. Throughout his tenure, Conrad advocated for responsible budgeting and was involved in discussions surrounding Social Security and healthcare reform. He played a significant role in shaping policies that impacted both North Dakota and the nation as a whole.
A joint resolution removing this provision. But that would be subject to the House acting and the House will not be prepared to act, I am told, until December 6. At the same time, we are running out of time on a continuing resolution and…
It was represented on the floor that there was a colloquy on the House side, and in that colloquy they suggested there was no intent for this language to permit access to individual tax returns. In that colloquy, they suggested, there was…
On the House floor, they made the representation that this was intended to preserve the protections for individuals' rights to privacy. Now, I ask the Senator from California, is there anything in here that has a protection for taxpayers…
I say to my colleague, my friend, you cannot even tell what page number it is because on these pages there are three different page numbers. Page 802, page 1112, page 85--take your pick. ... The system is broken, and sooner or later we…
I say, in answer to my colleague, I agree with the Senator from Arizona, the system is broken. The system is completely broken when we have 3,000 pages dumped on our desk and we are told to vote in 3 hours. Now, that does not make sense…
Might I ask a followup question, because the Senator referenced these earlier reports going all the way back from 50 years ago. I fully support the concept of a national intelligence director. My concern is how we are implementing it. Did…
Real median household income has gone down under this President. That is a serious problem for this country, a serious problem for the middle class, and wages are falling behind inflation. This is something which should concern all of us…
None of us can predict with clarity what is going to happen with interest rates, although we know under this fiscal condition, interest rates are going to go up. Clearly, that is going to offset, if not completely eliminate, the advantage…
The foreign debt of the United States under this administration has gone from $1 trillion to 1.8 trillion, an 80-percent increase in our foreign indebtedness.
I also favor extension of the middle-class tax cuts, but I am willing to pay for them. I am willing to pay for extension of the 10-percent rate. I am willing to pay for extension of the marriage penalty relief. I am willing to pay for the…
Yes. If we look ahead, look over just the next few years, what we see, under the President's own calculations, the deficit as a share of our Nation's income is even going to get larger. These are record deficits. As we can see, even as a…
Now the Social Security surplus is $160 billion, and under the President's plan, under the Republicans' plan, they are taking every dime of Social Security money and using it to pay for tax cuts and using it to pay for other expenditures.
I was somewhat surprised to read in the New York Times this morning comments of certain House Republican leaders, specifically the majority leader, yesterday about where we are headed in this country with these massive deficits. We have…
It exceeded last year's deficit, which was the previous record, by $100 billion.
We need to be clear with our colleagues, there is no new money. This is rearranging debt. To the extent that means it is not terribly real, that is the reality. I thank my colleagues.
My understanding is this is directed scorekeeping. The committees are told this doesn't cost any money, but it does cost money. I was willing to take this amendment when I was under the impression this didn't cost any money. But if we are…
Might I just inquire of the sponsor, what is the cost of this amendment and what is the source of the funding for it?
He did say that. It is a rather remarkable statement. He thought it was good for the country that jobs were outsourced overseas.
Because what is critical to having a budget point of order that is actually effective in reducing deficits and debt in the future is having a baseline that really gets you the result you want. Unfortunately, the baseline the Senator has…
I think the intention is good. I think the legal effect of what is before us does not accomplish the Senator's purpose. In fact, what we would wind up with is room for greater deficits in the first 3 years, and you would never catch up in…
On this side we urge our colleagues to support this amendment. We think when our forces are in the field, when they are in combat half a world away, we ought to meet the Commander in Chief's request for funding. We will offer an amendment…
May I say to my colleagues, I have not heard a single Senator who is opposed to extending the middle-class tax cuts. I have not heard a single Senator who is opposed. There is no need for this reconciliation instruction for the purposes of…
I am asking our colleagues to please let us exercise discipline. Let us reduce the number of amendments. I propose to my colleague that we consider entering into a time agreement at least on these next few amendments. If we could agree…
We have the spectacle of certain wealthy individuals and major corporations renouncing their U.S. citizenship to avoid U.S. taxes. Closing down that loophole saves $3 billion. Now, if anybody wants to vote against closing loopholes, let…
We had testimony at my hearing where people have waited 10 months to see specialists. While it is absolutely true... This is a priority. It is a priority that ought to be met.
Politicians like Kent Conrad
