J. Exon: “In answer to my friend from North Dakota, I do not know of a better time or a more appropriate time, as I have said.…”

“In answer to my friend from North Dakota, I do not know of a better time or a more appropriate time, as I have said. Since we are talking about making laws that we apply to others apply to ourselves, what more important law is there than a constitutional amendment? I simply say that I thank my friend from North Dakota for his kind remarks. I must say to him that this Senator was somewhat surprised to find opposition to this amendment, because I felt that this amendment would pass overwhelmingly since we had almost two-thirds of the Senate vote for a constitutional amendment to balance the budget last year. Then I heard about the fact that there may be a point of order raised against the amendment, since it was not particularly germane, as the rules of the Senate so indicate, so therefore that. We have to have 60 votes now to even have an up-or-down vote on the Exon amendment. I was quite surprised because I thought the opposition to the Exon amendment would come from the relatively few Members of the U.S. Senate that traditionally have stood against passing a constitutional amendment to balance the budget.”