Political Quotes

“I rise in support of passage of the balanced budget constitutional amendment, Senate Joint Resolution 1. When we vote on Senator Durbin's amendment later today, I will urge my colleagues to oppose that measure. The amendment of the Senator from Illinois seeks to skirt the three-fifths majority vote required by Senate Joint Resolution 1 to approve the deficit. This gaping hole would give Congress the ability to knock the teeth out of the constitutional amendment with a simple majority vote. The three-fifths requirement was placed in the balanced budget amendment so that Congress could not run deficits except during times of war or serious threat. The Durbin amendment adds two additional situations and neglects to define them. In addition, it overrides the desire of a balanced budget by three-fourths of the States which would be necessary for the amendment's ratification. Senator Durbin's amendment gives Congress excuses for not balancing the budget. The American people are tired of excuses coming from Washington. I would also like to take this opportunity to comment on the attacks that have been continued and have increased in intensity against this commonsense amendment. Our opponents are conjuring up fatalistic and doomsday predictions about the future with their crystal balls. They are right to be concerned about a possible economic recession and the insolvency of our Social Security system. But they are wrong about the cause and the solution.”