J. Exon: “let me suggest that it appears to this veteran of 18 years in the U.S. Senate and, before that, 8 years as Governor of…”

“let me suggest that it appears to this veteran of 18 years in the U.S. Senate and, before that, 8 years as Governor of Nebraska, that this place is more off balance than any supposed representative body that I have ever witnessed. To put it bluntly, it has gone bonkers. Here we have a group of supposedly thoughtful and mature men and women wallowing in politics, throwing aside what is right for America, in a seizure of fiscal madness, at the very time we are about to vote on a constitutional amendment to require a balanced budget by the year 2002. No one--no one--in this body has been more intent on amending the Constitution to require a balanced budget. But the irresponsible bed that we are making, and the grandiose plans for what represents fiscal balance down the road, is so fraught with craziness that I am reconsidering my support. I am very concerned that the recent political circus, with more than three rings, designed to present 'The Greatest Show on Earth' and prove beyond a doubt that there is 'a sucker born every minute,' will go down in history as one of the most shameful exercises in the history of the Senate. This year, 1996, could go down as the year that we deep-sixed the people under a guise of fiscal sanity that is, in reality, insanity. Mr. President, America deserves better. Unfortunately, the ringmasters of all of this are the Republican majority leadership in the House and the Senate.”