[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 214 (Tuesday, January 2, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S19327-S19328]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               TIME FOR AN AGREEMENT ON A BALANCED BUDGET

  Mr. THOMAS. Mr. President, I rise also to talk about the dilemma that 
we are in. I agree with the Senator from Vermont and the Senator from 
Maryland that we ought not to be where we are. I believe it is time 
that we come to an agreement on the balanced budget. If you really want 
to come to a solution, you could have come to a solution by now--all of 
us. If you want to find a solution, you can find a solution. You cannot 
just continue to talk and say we have had useful conversations and walk 
away, having made no decisions. That is not a way.
  I have a little different view, however, of some of the reasons that 
we are here than the Senator from Maryland. The President could have 
signed the appropriations bills. He could have had those people back to 
work. He chose not to do that.
  We started on November 14, I believe, with an agreement to find a 
balanced budget in 7 years, using CBO numbers. And that was not done. 
On the part of the administration, nor indeed the other side of the 
aisle, a process to do that was not forthcoming.
  So, I think we should not be where we are. I have been here since 
Thursday, hoping the leadership would come forward and say, ``Here is a 
way to put people back to work.'' I have been here each of those days 
to do that. We have had objections from the other side of the aisle not 
to do that. ``We do not want to do that.''
  So that is where we are, and we ought to change that.
  Let me talk a little bit about what we are really doing here, that 
is, trying to balance the budget. In 45 days we have not done that. The 
administration promised to bring that forward. There were four budgets, 
none of them balanced. Instead of that, there has generally been 
posturing at the polls, saying what an exaggerated effect would happen 
if we reduced the rate of growth in the budget. That is what we talked 
about, when everyone in this place knows you have to reduce the rate of 
growth in the budget. Not a soul in here would deny that has to be 
done.
  Still, we cannot do it. Everyone rises up and says, ``I want to 
balance the budget. We have to balance the budget.'' But can we go 
forward? We hear all of the reasons why we cannot do that. We have not 
done it for 30 years. We have not balanced the budget one time. Then I 
guess we wonder why it is that when you say ``then we will talk about 
balancing the budget,'' we say, ``That is what you said when we tried 
to get an amendment to balance the budget.'' We are going to gut Social 
Security, so we cannot do that. It did not have anything to do with 
Social Security.

  So here we are. I agree entirely we ought not to be here. Not only 
Federal employees in my State, as in your State, many people, 
Yellowstone Park concessionaires, for example, are out of work because 
the President did not sign the Interior bill, among other things. So 
Yellowstone Park is closed.
  What are we talking about? We are talking about some fundamental 

[[Page S19328]]
  changes. You know, not going around the edges and trying to do a little 
something. We are talking about a balanced budget, one that has to do 
with financial and fiscal responsibility, one that has to do with not 
continuing to put it on the debt so our kids have to pay it. Our credit 
card is maxed out. We know that. We cannot come to any kind of 
agreement. We are going to talk some more today, I guess, and talk some 
more tomorrow. We probably will not be able to come to an agreement.
  There is lots of room to come to an agreement. The parameters are 
pretty large--a balanced budget in 7 years, CBO numbers. Aside from 
that, you can bargain in there. That is a pretty broad parameter. We 
could do that. We could do that.
  Mr. President, we ought to do that. We ought to get folks back to 
work. This is a ridiculous arrangement. We have to make some decisions. 
The people who are doing the negotiating need to make some decisions. 
That is our job. We are trustees for the American people and our job is 
to do something. Our job is to make decisions. Our job is to move 
forward. Mr. President, we ought to do that.
  I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from New Mexico.

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