On the recordOctober 19, 2017
I rise to speak in favor of my amendment to strike language in this budget resolution that would exempt the $1.5 trillion tax reconciliation instructions from Senate rules that are meant to prevent this body from dramatically increasing our debts and deficits. I know that everybody is coming back from lunch, and they probably feel pretty good and do not want to get indigestion, but remember, our country is sitting on top of a $20 trillion debt at this point, an accumulation in which both parties have unclean hands. In the years that I have been in this institution, I have worked with my Republican colleagues on issues that try to address debts and deficits, but there is the notion that we are about to take on a budget resolution this afternoon and start with the premise that the rules that are there to try to protect us from being fiscally irresponsible are going to be blown off at the outset. To say that we are going to start with $1.5 trillion in the hole before we start counting is beyond irresponsible. I thank my friend, the Senator from Delaware, for joining me in offering this amendment.
