[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 72 (Wednesday, May 3, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6027-S6028]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               THE BUDGET

  Mr. DORGAN. In the remaining 3 minutes--and I appreciate the 
indulgence of the Senator from Illinois--I just want to discuss the 
issue raised by Senator Conrad a few minutes ago.
  We had, not very long ago, an urgency on the floor of the Senate to 
amend the U.S. Constitution to require a balanced budget, and the 
urgency was people moving around the floor here saying, ``We must do 
this immediately. The country's future rests on it. It is critically 
important for the future of America. We must change the U.S. 
Constitution to require a balanced budget.''
  And, of course, almost everyone knew that if the Constitution were 
changed to require a balanced budget, not one penny's worth of 
difference in the Federal deficit would have occurred, because you 
cannot reduce the 
[[Page S6028]] Federal deficit by changing the U.S. Constitution.
  How do you do it? By writing a budget and bringing it to the floor of 
the Senate. What is the requirement there? Well, the requirement is on 
April 1, a budget is required by law to be brought to the floor of the 
Senate. On April 15, a conference report is to be passed on the budget.
  Now, the question that many of us asks is: Where is the urgency 
today? Where is the budget? Is there a budget?
  Well, we expect there is a budget somewhere. We cannot seem to see 
the budget. We hope that those who claimed the reduction of the deficit 
was so urgent--and it is--just a month or two ago would now understand 
that urgency and meet their obligation to bring a budget to the floor 
of the Senate and begin to really cut Federal spending and really 
reduce the Federal budget deficit.
  I said then and I will say again today that there is a difference 
between posing and lifting. There has been a lot of posing in this 
Chamber in the last 3 or 4 months, but now it is time for some lifting. 
I think the American public and the Senate would be well served if 
those who talked so much about changing the Constitution to eliminate 
the Federal budget deficit would now be interested and willing to bring 
a budget resolution to the floor of the Senate as required by law and 
really start to dig in and reduce the Federal budget deficit.
  Why has that not yet occurred? Because they have ridden into a box 
canyon they call a middle-class tax cut which really gives most of the 
benefits to the wealthy in this country, and at the same time they 
really want to go ahead and cut about $300 billion out of Medicare and 
Medicaid. They have ridden into a box canyon and discovered they have 
dismounted, running for the bushes, and now they cannot find any plans. 
They do not seem to have any notion at all about what to do about 
Medicare and Medicaid. They do not have a budget. They cannot bring it 
to the floor.
  We do know this: They do have a tax-cut plan. It provides $11,200 a 
year in tax cuts to families with over $200,000 in income and it 
provides $120 a year to families with under $30,000 in income, and they 
call it middle class. Middle class on Rodeo Drive, I guess, but not 
middle class anywhere else in this country.
  Most of us in this Chamber who want to deal with the deficit honestly 
want a budget and we want a budget that is real and does honest things. 
We want to cut Federal spending where we are spending too much. We want 
some additional revenues, to close some loopholes, and we want to 
reduce the Federal budget deficit. And we would like the majority 
party, while they are at it, while they bring the budget resolution to 
the floor, to jettison this tax cut and stop calling a tax cut for the 
wealthy a middle-class tax cut. It does not add up.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator's time has expired.
  The Senator from Illinois is recognized.
  Ms. MOSELEY-BRAUN. I thank the Chair.
  (The remarks of Ms. Moseley-Braun pertaining to the introduction of 
S. 746 are located in today's Record under ``Statements on Introduced 
Bills and Joint Resolutions.'')


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