On the recordJuly 21, 2011
There is nothing wrong with it, and quite to the contrary. This is exactly the kind of activity that our Constitution contemplates, authorizes, and with good reason. I should note here it is significant that in this body each State is represented equally. A relatively small State such as mine, the State of Utah, has the same number of Senators as a large, heavily populated State such as California or such as New York because we represent the States. We represent the States as States. One of our jobs is to make sure that their sovereign interests are vindicated in this body. To suggest that we should not balance our budget, to suggest that we should not propose a balanced budget to be considered by the States--keeping in mind that it is the States ultimately that ratify it if three-fourths of them choose to do so--is insulting to the very States we represent. It somehow suggests our States can't handle it when the States overwhelmingly, almost every one of them, balance their budgets every year.
