[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 80 (Monday, May 15, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6647-S6648]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               THE BUDGET

  Mr. PRESSLER. Mr. President, there has been much discussion about the 
budget of the United States that will be brought to this floor by 
Senator Domenici and the Budget Committee soon. I believe strongly we 
must do something in this country or Medicare will go broke and our 
country will go broke. That is the alternative on one side. The 
alternative on the other side is to do something about it.
  Those are two rather grim alternatives. Because if we continue down 
the road with a $4.8 trillion debt in a $6.9 trillion economy, our 
money will soon become worthless. We are already seeing signs of this: 
the decline in the value of the dollar, particularly the unexplained 
collapse of the dollar against the yen and against the German mark. So 
something is wrong in our economy. In fact, I predict that at some 
point in the next 5 or 10 years we will have a cataclysmic event, 
economically speaking, in our country if we do not do something now 
about the Federal deficit.
  We also have learned that Medicare will go broke by the year 2002 
unless something is done. I have been a champion of senior citizens. I 
would ask our senior citizens, would we rather have a Medicare system 
that is broke, or would we rather have one that is solvent even though 
we may have to make certain changes? So that is where we stand as a 
country, basically, with this budget coming to the floor. It is a 
historic turning point in our country's history. We have to make a 
decision as to whether or not we are going to face up to the facts.
  We had a debate on this Senate floor about the balanced budget 
amendment recently. The Democrats pointed out that our side of the 
aisle had no plan. They said, what is your plan to balance the budget? 
We do have a plan. It is the Domenici plan that will come to this 
floor. It has a lot of cuts; some cuts I do not personally agree with, 
but I am going to support the Domenici budget plan, generally speaking, 
because in part it is the only game in town.
  The Democrats do not have a plan. Yet, they are criticizing our plan. 
That is unfortunate. The Democrats have [[Page S6648]] the White House. 
They are supposed to provide leadership in this area also. But they do 
not want to. So it is our burden in the Republican majority to provide 
commonsense leadership, to take the hits, to make the tough votes.
  Mr. President, one of the newspapers in South Dakota this morning 
reported that the Federal Government--the Treasury--released how much 
my State would suffer if some of the budget cuts were made. I say to my 
fellow South Dakotans, that is the oldest trick in the book by the 
Federal bureaucracy. They release how much people are going to suffer, 
and how much money is going to be lost. They do not say that they might 
have to reduce the number of bureaucrats in Washington or at the Denver 
regional headquarters. They do not say that they are counting as part 
of the budget impact the elimination of bureaucrats and regulators 
whose work may involve South Dakota, but actually live in Washington, 
DC, or Denver. They merely say, ``Your State is going to be hurt this 
much,'' and, ``Senator, if you vote to cut us, you are hurting your 
State.'' Those numbers that are released in such a timely fashion show 
how skillful the Federal bureaucracy is at trying to protect themselves 
by politically hurting Senators and Congressmen who vote for cuts in 
the budget.
  So I urge all South Dakotans, and all Americans, to take a close look 
at exactly what they are talking about.
  In conclusion, Mr. President, on the budget, we face a very painful 
choice. On the one hand, we can go broke as a nation and see the value 
of the dollar decline and leave a great debt for future generations. We 
also can keep spending in Medicare at the same level without making 
changes and have it go broke by the year 2002.
  On the other hand, we can take a responsible course. We can follow 
the outline of Pete Domenici's budget, which he is bringing to this 
floor.
  The Republicans in the Senate have a plan. The Democrats do not. They 
are criticizing our plan. That is fine. We will take the criticism. But 
I want to say to the people in my State and to this country that I hope 
they give us the understanding and the credit for taking leadership, 
for taking the tough votes we will soon take, because the other side is 
merely throwing rocks at us as we are trying to climb up the hill.
  Let us remember that our country is at a historic point. We could 
choose to go bankrupt, with a $4 trillion debt this year. With many 
programs such as Medicare going broke, we can keep doing what we are 
doing, and if so, it is going to lead to a cataclysmic event. Or we can 
take some tough medicine, and take some tough votes.
  In the next 6 months, I believe that I will be casting the toughest 
votes of my Senate career. I ask for the understanding of my 
constituents because it is not easy. I would rather be voting to give 
everybody everything. It must have been fun to be a Senator in the 
1960's, when you could vote for amendments without having any budget 
offset. Now, with every amendment we have, if we add something to the 
budget, we have to say where we are taking it from. We have to state 
under the budget rules what this is going to do to the Federal budget.
  So the whole tone of the next 6 months in this Chamber is going to be 
a very difficult one. We are going to see Senators struggle in their 
votes. It is going to be easier to demagog and to say let us wait until 
next year, or delay it 3 or 5 years. But the time has come to stand up 
and be counted. I believe that we can do a great deal for the future of 
the United States if we do so.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  Mr. BRYAN addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Nevada.

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