[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 60 (Friday, May 3, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4669-S4670]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       BALANCED BUDGET AMENDMENT

  Mr. DOLE. Mr. President, there is probably no more important matter 
that we have discussed in the last year and 3 months than the issue of 
the balanced budget amendment to the Constitution.
  Last year the House of Representatives passed the balanced budget 
amendment by more than two-thirds vote required. We had several long 
weeks of debate here in the Senate before the amendment narrowly failed 
on a vote of 65 to 35 on March 2, 1995.
  As leader, I changed my vote so that I could reconsider the matter 
later, which I could do now, or next week, or next month, or sometime 
before the year is out. So we are one vote short--that is the point I 
am making--in the Senate.
  I continue to hope that we can resolve the balanced budget amendment 
issue and pass it this year.
  To help us get to that goal, I have asked Senators Craig, Hatch, and 
Domenici to sit down with colleagues on the other side of the aisle in 
the coming days to see where accommodation is possible on the balanced 
budget amendment.
  I have never thought this was a partisan issue. In fact, I have been 
around here for some time, and it has been discussed and supported by 
Democrats and Republicans in the U.S. Senate over the past several 
years, and it is now. Many Democrats voted for the amendment last year, 
and we would like to have a couple more. We would like to have 8, or 10 
more.
  Several Senators who changed their votes last year talked about a 
Social Security firewall. I think there are ways to add a provision to 
the balanced budget amendment that will ensure that Social Security 
surpluses can never again be used to mask deficit spending.
  Make no mistake, the amendment will still require that the Federal 
budget be balanced by the year 2002. That is our promise to the 
American people. And I believe we can also require that, after a 
suitable phase-in, the Federal budget be balanced without counting the 
surpluses in the Social Security trust funds.
  I am optimistic that we have an opportunity to pass the balanced 
budget amendment with broad bipartisan support in the U.S. Senate. 
Senator Simon has been a leader in this important effort from the very 
beginning. I have directed our side to work with the Democrats and I 
would hope several of those Senators who changed their votes last year 
can come home again and support the balanced budget amendment as they 
have in the past.
  It is no small accomplishment that all of us now agree that the 
budget should be balanced by the year 2002. That is a big change since 
last March. It is not just Republicans saying it now, but all of us--
from Republicans to blue dog Democrats to the President of the United 
States.
  I believe that in itself is good news for America. Since we all agree 
that we ought to do this by the year 2002, one way to underscore our 
determination and convince the American people we are serious is to 
pass the constitutional amendment for a balanced budget that will 
require that we do it by the year 2002.
  So I do not give up hope that we can finally pass the balanced budget 
amendment and send it to the States for ratification. Remember that our 
action here is not the end of the line. The final decision about 
whether or not the balanced budget amendment will go into effect 
reverts to those outside Washington where most people would like to 
hope or think the decisions are made--with the States and with State 
legislators, with Governors, the American people, the taxpayers in each 
of the 50 States in America.
  The Founding Fathers decided to give the ultimate authority over 
constitutional amendments to those who are closest to the people, the 
men and women who serve in State houses around the country. So if we 
get a two-thirds vote for a balanced budget constitutional amendment in 
the Senate and the House, it then does not go to the President because 
he has nothing to do with it; it goes to the States, where if three-
fourths of the States ratify the constitutional amendment within a 
certain time period, it becomes part of the Constitution of the United 
States.
  It has always seemed to me we should not be making judgments in an 
important area like balancing the budget; that we should bring in the 
States and bring in the State legislators, Republican or Democrat. They

[[Page S4670]]

are closer to the people. They can better reflect the views of the 
people. And, again, if three-fourths of the States ratify the action by 
Congress and ratify the amendment, it becomes part of the Constitution.
  So why not go through the constitutional process that our Founding 
Fathers so wisely set up? There is a word for that process, and that 
word is democracy. That is what it is all about: Democracy. Let us let 
democracy work. No more excuses, no more obstacles. Eighty percent of 
the American people want a balanced budget amendment to the 
Constitution. By passing the amendment, we can balance the budget by 
the year 2002. We can protect the Social Security trust funds, and we 
will have done the single most important thing we can do to ensure the 
Nation's economic security and to protect the American dream for our 
children and grandchildren.
  Now, having said this, it is my hope that we can start this process 
sometime this next week. As I said, there is no issue more important. 
Eighty percent of the American people wonder why we have not done it by 
now. We failed by one vote. Six of my colleagues who had voted for it 
the year before, voted against it last year. Maybe they will come back 
home. We will do our best to accommodate some of the concerns that some 
of my colleagues have raised on the other side of the aisle, if we can 
work out some accommodations.

  Let us take this out of politics. Let us tell the American people it 
is bipartisan, as it is, with Senator Simon the leader on the 
Democratic side, Senator Craig and Senator Hatch, Senator Domenici, and 
others on this side of the aisle. So we hope that we can find a 
solution next week, start on this next week and maybe complete action 
the following week.
  There is nothing more important. And I hope that we can come 
together, as we should, to do the right thing for the American people, 
the American taxpayers and our future generations.

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