I think it is irresponsible for the Members on the other side of the aisle to say that they are going to vote against my amendment. The only hope we have of having a constitutional amendment is that we have some of our friends on the other…
Harry Reid
The Public Record
Harry Reid is a former United States Senator from Nevada, serving from 1987 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Reid held the position of Senate Majority Leader from 2007 to 2015, making him one of the most powerful figures in the Senate during his tenure. He was known for his leadership on various issues, including healthcare reform and economic recovery efforts following the 2008 financial crisis. Reid played a significant role in passing the Affordable Care Act and was a strong advocate for renewable energy and land conservation in Nevada.
The Senators from Utah and Arizona complained my amendment delegates powers to an unelected official, the Director of CBO, to make economic determinations.
the most direct, concise statement made during the last two presentations was the statement made by my friend from Idaho that this was not an accurate depiction of the Reid substitute. And that is true. What we have been dealing with here…
The budget experts have told us that the word ``net'' is the appropriate term of art to use, that it comes out to the same monetary number that is in the Simon amendment. They just felt the word ``net'' is a better term of art.
I suggest to my friend from New Mexico that the fact of the matter is that for 40-odd years, we have been carrying this in our accounting of the Federal budget. States have had decades and decades of experience. There was a statement that…
That question has been raised and we were told by the experts that the word ``net'' is a better term of art; however, it accomplishes the same thing as the underlying Simon amendment.
As the Senator knows, we work on a yearly budget, and what is contemplated here is that sometime during one of those 2 years of the Congress, if there are 2 successive months where the growth is less than 1 percent, then that is where this…
I hope every senior citizen and every disabled American was listening to the presentation made by the Senator from Utah and the Senator from Arizona. The Reid balanced budget amendment balances the budget, but not on the backs of senior…
I want to compliment the Senator from West Virginia, the President pro tempore, for his wide-ranging accounting of the history of the power of the purse. The encyclopedic memory of the Senator from West Virginia is truly a marvel. Senators…
I do not think they would be required to. I say they have not done it in the past. I assume we could get them to start doing that even though it would be extremely difficult to do that.
I respond by saying that, as I have indicated, virtually every State has an operating budget and a capital budget. Senator Ford, a former Governor of Kentucky, came and spoke at some length about how he conducted business when he was the…
I respond to my friend from Alabama that we have significant experience with capital budgets. We have set forth in the Federal budget capital expenditures. We have used that for some 40-odd years and, of course, all State governments--not…
Far from to try to argue legalities with my friend from Alabama who is the legal mind of the Senate I would say this, however, that if the Senator has any questions, any problem with the language of my amendment, then he should tremble at…
The problem, I say to my friend is--using the Brooklyn Bridge as an argument--if in fact we did not want to live up to what Senator Hatch said was our constitutional obligation and duty--and I take for granted we would all try to do that…
If I could respond to my friend, as I have indicated, we feel there is sufficient experience in the State and even in the Federal legislation to give us significant direction. I refer, as the esteemed former chief justice of the Alabama…
I think it would be in the best interests of this country, and the Senate as an institution, that we adopt the Reid substitute. Why do I say that? Because it requires a balanced budget amendment by the year 2001, but it does it through…
I was talking about the Simon amendment and the fact that almost every State in the Union would go broke if they had to live by what this amendment is asking the Federal Government to live by because every State has off-budget capital…
I have supported the concept of the balanced budget amendment since coming to Congress, and even before coming to Congress. This has been something that I have worked very hard on, especially the last several weeks, to arrive at something…
I see in the back of the Chamber someone else has certainly pointed to the editorial by Michael Ruby in the U.S. News and World Report. I am going to take a lot of time tomorrow or the next day, whenever I again get the floor, to talk…
The proposed rescission of 7.5 percent from the enacted level for fiscal 1994, if confined to the agencies funded in the legislative branch appropriations bill, would total $172.7 million. This reduction, which would be in addition to…
I also state that I think this has been constructive for the Senate because while this amendment only applies to this supplemental appropriations bill, I would hope that in the months to come when other bills come before this body…
we have worked long and hard since this matter was before the Senate earlier this day. We have met with Senators Feinstein and Boxer, Secretary Cisneros, and officials from the SBA and FEMA. We worked something out that I think…
The relief bill we are going to pass today is a tribute to this country's enormous generosity in times of crisis and catastrophe. We not only reach out to our own people, but we reach out to the peoples in other parts of the world, whether…
Thank you, Mr. President. This past Friday, I was honored to welcome and host First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton at a health care forum for Nevada's health care professionals and providers in Las Vegas. The purpose of the forum was to…
the deficit reduction package that passed last year had a number of important elements in it. Those elements have borne fruit. We talked, when the package passed, about creating new jobs. That has been accomplished. Last year we created…





