[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 73 (Thursday, May 4, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6135-S6136]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           A BALANCED BUDGET

  Mr. ASHCROFT. Mr. President, I want to address the issue of a 
balanced budget, but I want to start by talking about the shifting 
balance of Federal-State power. Last week, in United States versus 
Lopez, the Supreme Court held that a 1990 Federal statute did not 
``substantially affect'' interstate commerce. While the decision did 
not overturn any precedents, it marked a sharp departure from the 
modern Court's expansive view of congressional power to regulate 
commerce. By limiting Congress' ability to use the commerce clause to 
legislate social policy, the Court highlighted the benefits of the 
Federal system envisioned by the Framers, and outlined in the 
Constitution. Moreover, they acknowledged what the American people have 
recognized for quite some time: That a Congress with the power to do 
everything for you, also has the power to take everything from you.
  In the Senate, we have just begun to discuss spending priorities for 
the coming fiscal year. When the budget resolution comes before this 
Chamber, our actions will help shape the ongoing debate over State 
power within the Federal system.
  The question we must ask is not what power the Federal Government 
ought to have, but what powers have been extended by the people. We 
must be ever mindful of the fact that the powers conferred upon the 
Federal Government by the Constitution have proscribed limits. Clearly, 
a National Government that has a debt of $4.9 trillion--that is over 
$18,000 for every man, woman, and child--has forgotten this fact.
  Mr. President, if efforts are not made to limit spending, the Federal 
Government will no longer be able to fulfill its most basic 
constitutional obligations. In just 17 years, spending on entitlement 
and the national debt will consume all tax revenues; Medicare will be 
bankrupt in just 6 years; and in FY 1997, we will pay more in interest 
payments on the national debt than we will spend on national defense.
  Last November, the American people spoke with a clarity and an 
intensity seldom heard in American government. What was their message? 
Return to us the ability to control our own lives, our own future, our 
own destinies. This was not some radical, foreign concept, it was the 
message of the founding--the message embodied in the capstone of the 
Bill of Rights, the 10th amendment, which reads: ``The powers not 
delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by 
it to 
[[Page S6136]] the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or 
to the people.'' I would posit, Mr. President, that this fundamental 
idea should animate all that we do here in the coming weeks.
  The task of defining the constitutional line between Federal and 
State power has given rise to many of the Court's most challenging and 
celebrated cases. In United States versus Lopez, the Court reaffirmed 
the belief that the powers of the Federal Government have proscribed 
limits. Now, it is the opportunity of this Congress to recreate the 
dual sovereignty that the Framers envisioned. For ``in the tension 
between Federal and State power lies the promise of liberty.''
  Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. WELLSTONE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. WELLSTONE. Mr. President, I ask my colleague from California if 
she has come to the floor to speak on budget and Medicare. She was here 
first. I will be pleased to follow her.
  Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I thank my friend, but I will be delighted 
to follow my friend. So if he would like his time now, that is just 
fine.
  Mr. WELLSTONE. I thank the Senator.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Minnesota is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. WELLSTONE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that I yield 
myself such time as I might need from the majority leader's time.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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