John Cornyn: “I would like to speak on the cut, cap, and balance legislation. I plan to vote yes on Saturday morning to proceed to…”

“I would like to speak on the cut, cap, and balance legislation. I plan to vote yes on Saturday morning to proceed to this bill, and I urge my colleagues to do likewise. I would also like to explain why I think that is important. Most of us understand what this bill does. It cuts spending next year by more than $100 billion. These are real savings and not smoke-and- mirrors. It caps total Federal spending as a percentage of the economy, and it puts us on a path to keep spending at 19.9 percent of our gross domestic product. Right now, our Federal spending is at 25 percent of the gross domestic product. Our revenues are at roughly 15 percent, so there we have a 10-percent deficit totaling $1.5 trillion this year alone. Of course, those cumulative annual deficits make up our debt, which is now approximately $14.4 trillion. This piece of legislation also links an increase in the debt ceiling to passage of a joint resolution to balance the budget, and this is an important amendment to the Constitution that is being proposed. I believe we have amended the Constitution 27 times so far. This is a process the Framers of our Constitution embodied in the original document to allow Congress and the American people to amend the Constitution as circumstances change.…”