Bob Kerrey: “I rise to talk at length about the Bipartisan Commission on Entitlements and Tax Reform, a subject that I believe…”

“I rise to talk at length about the Bipartisan Commission on Entitlements and Tax Reform, a subject that I believe eventually this body will be compelled to address. When it does, it will be, of necessity, a bipartisan effort. We will not get it done if Democrats take advantage of Republicans, or vice versa. With that in mind, I note with considerable pleasure, before talking at length, that at a critical point during the debate on the unfunded mandate bill, an effort was made to place an amendment on the constitutional amendment to balance budget that would have required us to, in the Constitution, separate Social Security from the rest of the budget. That may make good policy sense at one level, but I was happy to join many Republicans in opposing that effort, as I was happy to join in an effort to oppose but not defeat the sense-of-the-Senate resolution that followed. It will take that kind of bipartisan effort if we are going to be able to address this issue. I note, for the record, that when the Republican leader earlier commented that perhaps this 10 days was a waste of time in debating this bill, I note for Americans that we are debating the health and safety and security of their lives. This is not a small issue. There is no economic imperative driving this legislation. The Government is not about to go broke if we do not pass this bill. I was proud to vote for this bill. I think it is a good piece of legislation.”