[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 57 (Tuesday, May 6, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3982-S3983]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   AGREEMENT ON BALANCING THE BUDGET

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, it has only been a few weeks since this 
Chamber was the platform and the focus for a debate on amending the 
Constitution of the United States. Members of this Senate came to the 
floor, mainly Republican but some Democrats, and argued it was 
politically impossible for the leaders in this country to reach an 
agreement on a balanced budget absent an amendment to the Constitution 
which would require it, which would involve the Federal judiciary, 
which would have added language to the Constitution, binding language 
on future Congresses. And yet here we stand today, just a few weeks 
later, many of us in favor of, some opposed, but speaking to an 
agreement to balance the budget. Did it take a constitutional 
amendment? Of course not, it took leadership, leadership from both 
political parties.
  I voted against that balanced budget amendment. I said then, as I say 
now, you do not need to amend the Constitution to meet your 
constitutional responsibility, and my responsibility is to make certain 
that we live within our means while our economy moves forward. And I am 
happy today that we can stand and discuss this balanced budget absent a 
constitutional amendment.

  I want to acknowledge on the floor my colleague, Senator Byrd, of 
West Virginia. If you were to list his accolades, I think the one he 
would be proudest of is his role as guardian of the Constitution. He 
carries that Constitution in his pocket every day. He believes in it to 
his core that it embodies what America is all about. He does not take 
constitutional amendments very lightly, and he has effectively argued 
against the balanced budget amendment and others over the years.
  Senator Byrd, this balanced budget agreement is a tribute to your 
tenacity and your commitment to the Constitution. History has proven 
you right again. A constitutional amendment was unnecessary. It took 
the will to bring about this agreement. And today we are debating such 
an agreement without a constitutional amendment.
  On behalf of myself and those who really are grateful for the 
contribution you have made on behalf of the Constitution, I just want 
to acknowledge that today.
  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I thank the distinguished Senator from 
Illinois for his more than gracious, more than charitable comments. I 
very much appreciate them.
  Mr. DURBIN. You are certainly welcome.
  How did we come to this day? Make no mistake, if the American economy 
were struggling, if we faced high unemployment, slow economic growth, 
few housing starts, businesses failing, trade accounts in the red, we 
would not be standing here with any kind of an agreement to balance the 
budget. But that is not the case.
  What propels us into this debate is the good condition of the 
American economy. Yesterday, the Dow Jones index broke a record, I 
believe. I cannot keep up with it. Up and down, up and down, but it has 
generally been up. We have seen the lowest unemployment figures in two 
decades. We have seen jobs created. People are building homes and 
starting businesses. America is moving forward. We feel good about it.
  How did we get here? Is this just a matter of good luck? I think it 
is more than that. I think it goes back to an action taken by Congress 
in 1993, and not a popular one, I might add, when the President stood 
up and said, ``I think we can move toward a balanced budget and keep 
the economy moving forward, and I want the support of Congress to do 
it.'' I was a Member of the House at that time. I joined the President, 
and I might tell you it was a partisan decision--not one single 
Republican vote in support of the President's plan, and yet we passed 
it. In the Senate it only passed when Vice President Gore cast the 
tiebreaking vote to enact the President's budget. We are lucky that he 
did because with that plan in 1993, we set the stage for this

[[Page S3983]]

debate to bring the budget into balance. We set the stage for economic 
expansion, which is creating more revenues, so that we can sit down and 
talk about tax cuts and more money being spent on education and 
environmental protection. Absent the President's leadership, absent the 
Democrats in Congress standing behind him, this day might never have 
come. And yet it has. And we can be proud of it.
  So let us talk about this agreement for a moment. Is this an 
agreement I would have written? No. I would have changed a lot of 
provisions here. It is a compromise. It is a bipartisan compromise. 
There are things which many Republicans are proud of which I would not 
have included. There are things which were not included but I think 
should have been. But make no mistake, this is a good agreement. It is 
good for this country. It is a good bipartisan compromise. It is one 
which not only reaches a balanced budget but says we are going to do it 
in a responsible way.
  First, under the Republican Contract With America, which Speaker 
Gingrich and many Republican Senators supported, we were to cut out of 
Medicare $270 billion over 7 years--a massive cutback in Medicare. They 
said it was necessary; you had to do it. And if you did not do it, 
Medicare was in peril. The American people knew better.
  That $270 billion went way beyond what was necessary to strengthen 
Medicare. It created funds for a tax cut for wealthy people. And that 
was not fair. The President stood up and said, ``I won't agree to it.'' 
When he threatened that veto, that particular proposal did not go 
forward. Where are we today?
  The bipartisan compromise talks about a $115 billion cut over 5 years 
in Medicare and a guarantee to the American people that, for 10 years, 
Medicare will be solvent and strong. We have kept our word to the 
seniors in this country and those about to be seniors. They can rest 
assured that Medicare will be there. That is good. That is part of this 
agreement.
  Medicaid. Medicaid is not just health insurance for poor people; it 
is health insurance for destitute elderly in nursing homes. That is 
where half the money in Medicaid goes. The elderly person in a nursing 
home who has spent down and has not a single thing left on Earth turns 
to Medicaid to keep them alive.
  The Republican proposal originally to cut Medicaid was $160 billion 
over 7 years. We said it was too much. The President said it was too 
much. In this agreement it is down to $15 billion. We have brought it 
down to a manageable amount, one that will not endanger the health and 
security of the disadvantaged and elderly.

  Education. My colleague from Texas, Senator Gramm, got up a few 
minutes ago and talked about all this massive Federal spending. Well, 
let me tell you, America, families that get up every morning and wonder 
whether they can pay for their kids' college education expenses, this 
budget agreement will be a helping hand. We are going to allow you for 
the first time to deduct college education expenses on your income tax. 
Oh, it is still going to be expensive, but you are going to get a 
helping hand for the first time.
  And, students, listen up. Get good grades, go to school, and there is 
a scholarship in here for you that will pay for most community colleges 
and some colleges and universities. Too good to be true? No. It is a 
commitment by the President that is embodied in this budget agreement 
that is good for this country.
  Visit a couple with a new baby a couple days after the baby is born, 
and they are home and you go to visit them. You say, ``What a beautiful 
little baby. Looks just like his dad,'' or ``looks just like his mom. 
Is she sleeping at night? How is she taking her bottle?'' And then, 
after a few minutes, ``Have you thought about how you're going to pay 
for her college education?''
  It is something we all think about. Next to our home mortgage, for 
most families in this country, this is what you worry about. ``How am I 
ever going to put this money together?'' This bill will help. It will 
not pay the whole thing, but it is going to help. It is responsive to 
the real needs that American families feel.
  Middle-class tax relief. Not only when it comes to education to help 
working families pay for college and training expenses, but a child tax 
credit of $500 per child. What does it mean? Well, my daughter and her 
husband have a little baby boy, our grandson. We are so proud of him. 
He is going to be a year old in a few weeks.
  My wife and I did not think much about this when we raised our kids, 
but my daughter and my son-in-law talk about day care. ``Dad, what are 
we going to do about day care? It's expensive. We don't want to put 
Alex anywhere that isn't safe, quality day care. How are we going to 
pay for it?'' They are lucky. They have two jobs, two incomes in their 
family. Some other families struggle with the same decision with fewer 
resources.
  This child tax credit in here means a helping hand, $500 per child 
per year. It will not cover the cost of day care, but it will help. And 
shouldn't we help? Shouldn't we help working families? That is what 
this is all about.
  We are finally responding to the real issues that real people talk 
about. I do not believe real American families sit around the family 
room and say, ``What about campaign finance reform? What's going on 
with the latest investigation in Washington?'' They do sit around and 
talk about paying for college, paying for day care. This budget 
agreement will address it.
  The battle is not finished. There is another one before us. I hope we 
enact this budget agreement. Then we will address a tax bill. I think 
you are going to see some real differences in philosophy between 
Democrats and Republicans about whether the tax savings in that bill go 
to working families or wealthy people. I think they should go to 
working families.
  I think we ought to, for example, give 100 percent deductibility of 
health insurance premiums for all self-employed people. All family 
farmers, all small businesses, those who are self-employed, should have 
the same benefits of hospitalization insurance deduction as the 
corporations do.
  So, for American families, this agreement is a step forward. The 
President's leadership, a bipartisan compromise, has us on the road to 
a balanced budget in a responsible way.
  I yield back my time.
  Mr. GRASSLEY addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Roberts.) The Senator from Iowa is 
recognized.

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