Charles W. Stenholm: “I will say that everything he has said is 100 percent the truth. We did not mention Social Security. I deliberately did…”

“I will say that everything he has said is 100 percent the truth. We did not mention Social Security. I deliberately did not mention Social Security because that is not the issue here. Everything the gentleman said in the letter from the Treasury is the truth. That is not the point of our amendment. The point of our amendment is to have an up or down vote by this body to assume the responsibility, rather than allow, under the law, the Secretary of the Treasury to manipulate the funds in a legal way to avoid having a vote on this floor prior to November 2, to have an assumption of the responsibility of the fiscal matters of this country. That is all I am asking. The chairman is exactly right: We do not need this. If he would assure me that we will have a vote, and since both of us agree on a balanced budget constitutional amendment, this is helpful to those of us like you and I, Mr. Chairman, that want to bring fiscal accountability. That is all we are asking. Let us not confuse this issue with anything other than a clear, plain, up and down vote of expression. I have already offered on behalf of a substantial number of Democrats to support an up or down vote, if you will put some budget enforcing accountability back into our process.”