On the recordMarch 9, 2010
Mr. President, we just voice voted an amendment that will not do anything. What this amendment says is, where we violate our own rules in terms of pay-go, we will actually publish both the number of times and the amount of dollars we do that. It is about transparency of the Senate, being honest with the American people. With great fanfare, the Senator from Montana came down and we put into law a pay-go law. Since that time, including this bill, we will have passed $120 billion of debt to our kids by saying we waive pay-go. That is OK. That is the right of the body to do that. But it is not OK not to let the American people know that and let them keep track of us. This amendment is very simple. Anytime we create a new program, anytime we pass and violate the pay-go rules by overriding the pay-go point of order, then we should list that with the American people so they can see what we are doing. It is quite simple, quite straightforward. It doesn't require any time. You will spend forever going to the Congressional Budget Office to find this. This makes it very simple, very straightforward. I reserve the remainder of my time. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Montana is recognized.
