[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 69 (Tuesday, May 15, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3154-S3155]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            UNANIMOUS CONSENT AGREEMENT--MOTIONS TO PROCEED

  Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that following 
leader remarks on Wednesday, May 16, the Senate proceed to the 
consideration of motions to proceed to the following budget resolutions 
listed, en bloc: Calendar No. 357, S. Con. Res. 41; Calendar No. 354, 
H. Con. Res. 112; Calendar No. 356, S. Con. Res. 37; Calendar No. 384, 
S. Con. Res. 42; and Calendar No. 395, S. Con. Res. 44; that there be 6 
hours of debate on the motions to proceed equally divided between the 
two leaders or their designees; that upon the use or yielding back of 
time, the Senate proceed to vote on the five motions to proceed in the 
order listed above; that there be 2 minutes equally divided between the 
votes and that all after the first vote be 10-minute votes; that the 
motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table; that 
notwithstanding the adoption of any motion to proceed, the Senate 
proceed to the remaining votes on motions to proceed; further, that at 
the conclusion of those votes, the Senate resume consideration of the 
budget resolution if a motion to proceed is adopted; and that if no 
motion to proceed has been adopted, the majority leader be recognized.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Mr. HELLER. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, there has 
not been a budget passed in the Senate and the House in over 3 years. I 
would argue that the exercise we have ending tomorrow will have no 
substantial difference. I do not think there is anyone in America who 
believes we will have a budget at the end of tomorrow. The 
Congressional Budget Act of 1974 requires Congress to pass a budget by 
April 15. So with that, I ask unanimous consent that the request of the 
leader be modified so that S. 1981, the No Budget, No Pay Act, be 
automatically discharged from the Homeland Security and Government 
Affairs Committee, the bill be immediately placed on the calendar, and 
that when the Senate proceeds to the budget votes mentioned in the 
Senator's request, the Senate also vote on the motion to proceed to S. 
1981 under the same terms and conditions of the other budget votes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Does the Senator so modify his request?
  Mr. CONRAD. Objection has been heard on our side.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. There is objection to the modification. Is 
there objection to the original request? Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, just on the note that the Senator raised, 
I want to make clear that I have heard over and over: No budget 
resolution has passed in 1,000 days. What is not being said is that 
instead of a budget

[[Page S3155]]

resolution last year, the Senate and the House passed the Budget 
Control Act. The Budget Control Act is not a resolution, it is a law. A 
resolution, as all Members know, is purely a congressional document. It 
never goes to the President for his signature.
  Last year, instead of a budget resolution, this body and the other 
body passed legislation called the Budget Control Act that set a 
budget, budget limits, and spending limits for this year and next. 
Actually, it went even further: It set 10 years of spending caps. A 
budget resolution usually only sets 1 year of spending caps.
  So I wanted to make clear that instead of a budget resolution being 
passed last year, the House and the Senate passed the Budget Control 
Act to set spending limits for this year and next and for the 8 years 
beyond.
  In addition, the Budget Control Act established a supercommittee and 
gave it special authority to reform the tax system and the entitlement 
system and said that if they could come to an agreement, they would not 
face a filibuster. With a simple majority, we could reform the tax 
system and the entitlement system here in the Senate. The Budget 
Control Act further said that if the special committee does not agree 
to reform the tax system, to reform the entitlement system, there will 
be an additional $1.2 trillion of spending cuts put in place over and 
above the $900 billion of cuts put in place by the Budget Control Act 
through spending caps for 10 years. That is a total--because the 
special committee did not agree--of over $2 trillion of spending cuts 
that are now in law as a result of the Budget Control Act. That is the 
largest spending cut package in the history of the United States, and 
it is law. It is law because of the Budget Control Act passed last 
year.
  Now, my colleagues can go and shout it through the rooftops, as they 
have done, that the Congress has not passed a budget resolution in 
1,000 days, but they are not telling the whole story. They are not 
telling people that instead of a resolution, the House and the Senate 
passed a law. A law is stronger than any resolution. A resolution is 
purely a congressional document. A law has to be signed by the 
President of the United States.
  The Budget Control Act was passed by the Senate on an overwhelming 
bipartisan vote, passed by the House, and signed by the President of 
the United States. It sets the budget limits for this year and next, 
and it goes beyond that. It sets 10 years of spending caps, saving $900 
billion. And because the special committee could not agree to reforming 
the tax system and the entitlement system, it put in place another $1.2 
trillion of spending cuts that are now in law. That is a total of over 
$2 trillion of spending cuts.
  What we do not have is the longer term plan the Budget Control Act 
hoped would come about as a result of the work of the special 
committee. So that is work we still need to do, but nobody should be 
under any misimpression or misunderstanding that we do not have 
spending limits in place for this year and next and, in fact, for all 
discretionary spending, spending limits in place for the whole of the 
next 10 years. That is a fact.
  Tomorrow we are going to have a chance to debate fundamental issues 
of where the resources of the United States go. But we are in a 
different situation than we normally would be because the Budget 
Control Act is in law. We know what the appropriators can spend for 
this year and next. That is locked in. And tomorrow we will have a 
chance to debate longer term plans.
  I will be interested to see what some of our colleagues say about 
some of the truly extraordinary and extreme budget plans that are being 
offered by my colleagues on the other side--plans to eliminate Medicare 
in 2 years, plans to cut Social Security benefits by 39 percent, plans 
to have trillions of dollars of additional tax cuts for the wealthiest 
among us, and at the same time cut education 25 percent, cut funding to 
reduce our dependence on foreign energy by 60 percent, plans to cut 
spending beyond the Budget Control Act limitations by another $2 
trillion.

  We are going to see, from some of my colleagues on the other side, 
truly extreme plans. I hope they will be voted down tomorrow. I hope we 
will be able to make clear to the American people with the Budget 
Control Act law that passed last year, instead of a budget resolution, 
there are spending caps in place this year and next and the 8 years 
beyond.
  Tomorrow will be an interesting day to discuss different Members' 
views of the fiscal future of this country. Make no mistake, we need to 
come together on a long-term plan to get us back on track.
  I was part of the Bowles-Simpson Commission. In fact, it was the idea 
of Senator Gregg and myself to have such a commission. I voted for the 
findings of that commission to save more than $4 trillion. I was part 
of the Group of 6 who spent an entire year trying to find a way to 
implement Bowles-Simpson. So I am fully prepared to have this debate 
and this discussion.
  I am eager for us to come together around a plan to get us back on 
track, but it is going to require all sides to get out of their fixed 
positions. That is probably unlikely right before an election, but it 
needs to happen before the end of this year. I am very hopeful that 
Bowles-Simpson--that fiscal commission plan--serves as a good example 
of where we might find common ground. Both sides, all sides, need to 
get out of their fixed positions to reach an agreement to get our 
country back on track.
  I yield the floor.

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