[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 19 (Thursday, February 13, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1367-S1369]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             BALANCED BUDGET AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION

  Mr. GRAMM. Mr. President, we have seen the specter this week of our 
colleagues on the Democratic side of the aisle proposing to exempt 
additional programs from the balanced budget amendment to the 
Constitution: Social Security, emergency spending, veterans programs, 
housing programs, education, health and welfare programs, college aid 
and training programs, law enforcement programs, the Tennessee Valley 
Authority, highways, bridges, dams, roads, buildings, and it goes on 
and on. Given how far afield we have gone in this debate, I wanted to 
very briefly try to remind the Senate and those who are following this 
debate what this debate is about. This debate is about families making 
hard decisions at their kitchen table, trying to make ends meet. So I 
thought I would look today, at 28 years ago, the last year that we had 
a balanced budget in America.
  The last time we had a balanced budget was in 1969. If you look at 
the front page of the Washington Post for Thursday, February 13, 1969, 
you can see that not very much happened in the world 28 years ago today 
when we had a balanced budget. But there was some very exciting news 
that day. The very exciting news was not on the front page; the very 
exciting news was in the want ads. I would like just to review what 
America looked like the last time we had a balanced budget.
  Dale City is a city 25 miles south of Washington. It is sort of a 
middle-class neighborhood. In Dale City, 28 years ago today, when we 
had a balanced budget, they were advertising new homes that were 
selling between $18,600 and $38,000 apiece. In the richest county in 
America, Montgomery County, 28 years ago, when we had our last balanced 
budget, they were advertising new homes in Walnut Hill for $32,500.
  And 28 years of deficit spending later, they are still running want 
ads. They ran them today. The want ads today show that houses in the 
suburbs of Northern Virginia are selling between $230,000 and $340,000 
apiece, and in Montgomery County they are selling for $270,000 a piece.
  The newspaper of 28 years ago today did not have any news on the 
front page worthy of being remembered, but it had want ads worthy of 
being remembered.
  A Chevrolet Impala could be bought for $51 a month, and you had it 
paid off in 3 years. That was 28 years ago today, the last time we had 
a balanced budget. Today, to buy a Chevrolet Cavalier, it costs you 
$194 a month, and you have to pay for 6 years to pay it off.
  There was not much exciting news on the front page of the paper 28 
years ago today, when we had a balanced budget, but there was exciting 
news in the want ads. You could buy a new Goodyear tire for $8.75 
apiece. Now, in fact, there is an ad today for $24.99. But my guess is, 
28 years ago and today, if you went out to get the $8 tires then or the 
$24 tires today, you would find that they did not fit your car. But 
look at what has happened to the base tire in terms of expenses.
  Twenty-eight years ago today, the public was buying pork. And our 
Government was beginning to go on a binge of pork that would last 28 
years. Pork chops at Giant 28 years ago today were 89 cents a pound. 
Pork chops at A&P 28 years ago today, as advertised in the Post, were 
89 cents a pound. Pork chops at Safeway 28 years ago today, when we had 
a balanced budget, were 89 cents a pound. Today, in the Washington 
Post, Safeway boneless pork chops are $3.99 a pound. Mr. President, 28 
years ago there was not a big headline in the paper, but there should 
have been. The big headline in the paper should have been, ``Budget 
Balanced This Year for the Last Year in 28 Years.''
  Our colleagues say: Well, things are going great. It's wonderful. We 
ought to exempt the budget from itself. There's no reason to quit 
spending. But I think anybody who looks at what was in the paper 28 
years ago today and what is in the paper today has to conclude that 
there have been a lot of changes in the 28 years since we have had a 
balanced budget and that many of those changes are not trends that we 
want to continue.
  Finally, tomorrow is Valentine's Day. Twenty-eight years ago today 
you could buy this Whitman deluxe red foil heart assortment, 1 pound of 
candy, for $2.66. After 28 years of deficit spending here in 
Washington, it costs $8.79.
  Mr. President, maybe some of our colleagues on the Democratic side of 
the aisle could say: Well, don't worry about housing costs up from 
$18,000 to

[[Page S1369]]

$230,000 and don't worry about automobile costs up from a monthly 
payment of $51 to a monthly payment of $248. Maybe they could say: 
Don't worry about the price of tires and don't worry about pork. But 
when the cost of love is exploding, the time has come to stop deficit 
spending. That is what this debate is about. I wanted to remind my 
colleagues before we all left for our work period at home. This 
organization is permanently charged with ensuring compliance with the 
convention's requirements and with monitoring the chemical industry and 
the chemical production throughout the world. The convention's 
preparatory commission, which is located in The Hague, is currently 
determining precisely how the permanent organization is going to be 
structured and how the convention is going to be implemented.

  Every State that ratifies that convention has to complete the 
destruction of chemical weapons agents, munitions and production 
facilities within 10 years of the convention's entry into force, or its 
date of ratification, whichever comes earlier.
  I would like to describe what the treaty accomplishes in terms of 
control of chemicals and their precursors and monitoring and tracking 
of those chemicals and precursors.
  The convention establishes three lists, or schedules as they are 
called, of chemical warfare agents and their precursor chemicals. These 
are arranged in the order of their importance to chemical weapons 
production and the extent of their legitimate peaceful or commercial 
uses.
  The OPCW Technical Secretariat will update those schedules as needed 
and as circumstances change. And the production, the use, or the 
transfer of any chemicals on these schedules above set minimal amounts 
must be projected prospectively by the manufacturers and subsequently 
reported annually to the OPCW.
  Any facility that makes use of or is capable of producing scheduled 
chemicals has to register with the OPCW, as do facilities that produce 
over 30 metric tons annually of a discrete chemical containing 
phosphorous, sulphur, or fluorine.
  So, Mr. President, what we gain here is a mechanism for knowing 
globally who produces what chemicals, how much they produce, and where 
these chemicals are going.
  The inspections of chemical facilities provided by the convention 
will vary according to the nature of the chemicals. Those declared as 
producing, storing, or destroying chemical weapons are subject to 
systematic on-site inspection and continuous instrument monitoring. 
Those chemical facilities declared as nonchemical weapons facilities 
are subject to routine or random inspections, depending on the schedule 
or schedules on which the chemicals they produce or handle are listed. 
All other facilities that produce or handle or are suspected of 
producing or handling chemicals are subject to on-site challenge 
inspections upon the request of a signatory nation.
  So, I reiterate, under the terms of the convention we will achieve 
for the first time the ability to know who is producing what chemicals, 
how much they produce, and where these chemicals are moving, and we 
obtain the ability to inspect any of those chemical production or 
handling entities.

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