Russ Feingold: “the pending amendment and the second degree to it, as modified, are an effort to control spending and protect the Social…”

“the pending amendment and the second degree to it, as modified, are an effort to control spending and protect the Social Security trust fund. That is what it is--pure and simple--to control spending and, by doing so, also protect the Social Security trust fund. That is obviously not a new idea. What we are doing here is trying to extend a process that has worked, and worked pretty well, for most of the years since 1990. We are trying to give 2 more years of life to the process that helped us do something that a lot of people didn't think could happen--balance the budget without using Social Security in both 1999 and 2000. What we are trying to do is make sure there is some constraint on the size of the Government. I remind my colleagues, if we do not pass this amendment, if we do not extend the budget process, then the vast majority of budget process constraints will simply expire on September 30. Our failure to act will mean an almost complete absence of responsible budget limitations. Again, what our amendment does is not something new. It just tries to keep in place these limitations that made the good fiscal management of this Government possible during the 1990s.”