Orrin Hatch

I believe there is no question that they would do a better job, because there won't be the same number of games played on budget matters if everybody knows that we have the constraint of either balancing the budget, or voting on a…

It doesn't. We can do whatever we want to. We just have to vote to have an unbalanced budget by the required supermajority or margin.

This amendment does not mandate a balanced budget as the only option. This amendment requires us to move toward a balanced budgets, because it requires a balanced budget or supermajority votes if we are going to run deficits.

Meeting the requirements of the balanced budget amendment will require a heightened vigilance of Congress. It is apparent it will make us get tough on budgets. During those years we had five different statutory balanced budget approaches…

There is no way you can. I do not want to keep going with this system and then this system when we have an alternative that really would put some fiscal discipline in the Constitution that makes us get serious.

I believe any reasonable interpretation of section 6 knows that there is no way--and the distinguished Senator was right when he made the comment earlier in the day--that there is no way of absolutely being accurate on estimates. We have…

I think the terms of the committee report should be given the ordinary dictionary meaning. I think that is the way we would have to do it. But Members of Congress would be responsible. Members would define them.

I don't think a majority would vote to do that. But I am saying that is what this amendment would allow a majority to do, a simple majority. We are saying that is wrong. We have provided enough of a safety hatch to protect the country the…

What the amendment of the distinguished Senator from Connecticut would do is it would just plain make it so anybody could waive the balanced budget amendment for any reason at any time. And I guarantee it will not be waived to increase…

What we are saying is if it's an actual conflict and something that deserves the United States of America risking its soldiers and its young men and women, then the President ought to declare a war or come up here and say, ``I want a…

That might be an argument in this body. If it is, then those who want to increase military spending or waive this budget, all they have to do is get a constitutional majority to do so. We are just saying it should not be easy to waive the…

You don't think moving billions of dollars worth of military force into the Persian Gulf----

It may not be, until we shot the first shot, but the fact is that is what happened, and when it did happen, I cannot imagine either House of Congress not voting to provide a constitutional authority to provide whatever help the military…

One thing about lend-lease that I felt was very important is that during that period of time if we had any deficits at all, they were very minor.

Well, we already had had attacks by the Iraqis and we were there to protect our people. I would say that.

Let me finish. I cannot cite a single example in the Senate, but that is irrelevant. The fact is the reason we are writing the constitutional amendment is to provide a means whereby you have to have a constitutional majority, without…

Well, where the vote is 50-50, where that is required, yes, but we are talking about a constitutional amendment.

That is correct, just like a vote for this constitutional amendment excludes the Vice President, and countless other votes exclude the Vice President.

The Vice President would not have a right to vote here, but he doesn't have a right to vote for this amendment either.

And about 78 percent of the American people--between 68 and 78 percent of the American people--have always been for this balanced budget amendment. They come from all walks of life, from every group. The reason they do is they are deathly…

I listened to these arguments, and I did not make the argument that we should have Social Security in the balanced budget amendment because the President is doing it. Everybody has done it because it is a unified budget that requires…

I hope some Democrats who have cosponsored and my fellow Republicans will vote to sustain the motions to table, but I don't know of any blood oaths, nor do I know of any all-profound commitments that people have made. I just believe that…

For some of these freshmen Senators, it will be their first speech as U.S. Senators. I can't believe that there is anything more fitting than the balanced budget amendment in their very first speech. This is a historic issue, and I think…

I would like to take a few seconds to point out this little stack. This is only 28. This stack is only 28 of the unbalanced budgets since 1969. We were afraid to put up the ones before 1969, which was the last year when we had a balanced…

I do not know that they know about it, but they certainly are going to know about it after we finish here today, because it is unbelievable.