Orrin Hatch

One reason is the States do not print the money. No. 2 is some States cannot do much in the capital way because they do not have the money and they do not balance their budgets the way they should. No. 3 is that there are rating systems…

Let me take 1 minute of my remaining time, and that is to say that this amendment will have a loophole in the balanced budget amendment second to none, and a loophole for any kind of spending--not military spending, any kind of spending…

I say to my dear friend and colleague, that would be one of the most tragic errors we could make. To me, that would be almost fiscal insanity. I am not saying anything is purely technical. What I am saying is that the money, not the…

But passage of the balanced budget amendment is the first and only real step toward a balanced budget and fiscal sanity.

I did not say that the distinguished Senator from North Dakota is a sophist, though I think he would make a good one. I did say that I think his arguments are--

That is quite a bit different from what I am saying. We did not include Social Security in the budget in Gramm-Rudman-Hollings solely so as to not give the President the right to sequester Social Security funds. But this exclusion was not…

I will end with this. The 1990 Budget Act basically stated in one section to take Social Security out of budget. It said in another section to leave it in. This is confusing. But both Congress and the President have construed the Budget…

If I could be allowed to finish. So the pressures will be on us to try to have surpluses rather than continue to spend, because sooner or later we have to face the music. Let me make this point. The accuracy of estimates is…

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.

I do not think I need the Senator's chart to make the case that our country is in trouble, that we are not doing what is right, that we are continuing to spend us into bankruptcy. And even though there are arguments made that we are only…

Do not think that is adequate. They want a three-fifths majority before you can increase taxes. But the reason we have a constitutional majority is because my friends on the Democratic side would not agree with the three-fifths majority.

I understand. What Senator Simon argued last year as the leading proponent of this amendment was that he felt there would be a greater propensity to increase taxes to solve these problems. I have to say that I do not believe that is so…

I think the Senator is very logical. But he also has to allow the logic to take into account that Congress may, as I said before, and should shoot for a small surplus--the incentives will be to have surpluses to avoid a last-minute…

The reason I point out the current system is not working is because there are not the same pressures to make it work that there would be under a balanced budget amendment. Second, if we have these wild fluctuations under the balanced…

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…

Well, I have to ask the distinguished Senator from West Virginia, if this balanced budget amendment passes, as much as he wishes that it would not, and it is ratified by the States, would the Senator from West Virginia, once it is placed…

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.

my colleague, as I can see, feels very deeply about his position. I am not casting aspersions on him. I know he is very sincere in what he is doing here today, but all we are saying is unless the President declares a war, which he has in…

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…

We are saying to keep this country secure, to have this country remain the greatest country in the world, quit spending it into bankruptcy and put some fiscal mechanism in the Constitution that requires us to quit spending it into…

Although I tend to share the Senator's view on the line- item veto, I think the Senator would have to admit there is a question whether that is going to be judged constitutional or not. If we pass a balanced budget amendment, it will…

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…

Because I believe Senators will live up to the constitutional mandate and the oath of office that they take to do what is right, where at this particular point there is no constitutional mandate to live within budgetary constraints, and it…

Let me answer that question. You have raised a point that Congress will not know precisely if we are in balance or a deficit to the exact dollar before the end of each year. That is why we have the workable flexibility of relying on…