Orrin Hatch: “I am disappointed with the Senate vote. I am disappointed for the American people, especially younger Americans, and our…”

“I am disappointed with the Senate vote. I am disappointed for the American people, especially younger Americans, and our children and grandchildren. They were the ones who lost in this defeat. I hope our younger voters will take notice of who was on their side and who was not, the next time they vote. The sad reality is that the bridge to the 21st century is likely to be washed out in a flood of debt. I hope I am wrong and that we will now work to enact a real plan to get to a balanced budget. I hope that those who have killed the balanced budget amendment this time will actually work to balance the budget. But I must admit, I am not too hopeful that we will get to balance and stay there without the force of a constitutional requirement to do so. This year we will add another budget to this mounting stack of fiscal irresponsibility. When we began this Congress, less than 2 months ago there, were 68 Senators who had either previously voted for this amendment--the exact same amendment, or who had promised during their recent campaign to support it. I believed that we could count on them to keep their promises. Yet, only moments ago, only 66 votes were cast in favor of fiscal discipline. Those two missing votes are the difference between passing the balanced budget amendment and adding still more failed budgets to this pile of 28 straight years of deficits.”