On the recordJuly 11, 2011
I would say before my friend leaves the floor, his leader, my friend, the senior Senator from Kentucky and I are representing the Senate along with Senator Kyl and Senator Durbin at the White House. We have been there many days now. We understand, all of us there, Democrats and Republicans, the significant adverse effect this huge debt has on our country. Everyone there is trying to arrive at a point where we do something about that. We are not there yet. It is difficult to do. We understand it is going to take, we believe, a mix of spending cuts and some way to generate some more revenue. We are working our best to get this done. My friend is right, the debt is a drag on the economy. There is no question about that. Once we are able to raise the debt limit, I think we are going to see some energy in this economy we have not seen in some time. But we are not there yet. I wish I could report to my friend from Alabama and the rest of the Senate and the country that we have completed our negotiations, but we have not. We are going to go back again tomorrow. The President said 3:45, and I said a.m. or p.m.? It will be 3:45 p.m. tomorrow that we will be back, trying to move forward. My friend from Alabama has an important responsibility as the person who is the ranking member now of that most important Budget Committee. I am sure he has learned a lot, having taken this assignment, that he did not know before. That is the way it is with everyone in the Senate.…





