[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 12 (Tuesday, January 29, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Pages S347-S348]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                            Passing a Budget

  Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, I rise to speak about taxes, debt, and 
spending. It is time for President Obama to show real leadership on the 
biggest threat America faces to our future prosperity. As my good 
friend the Republican leader has said: If we don't get a handle on 
spending and debt, not much else matters.
  It has now been 1,371 days--almost 4 years--since Democrats, who 
control the Senate, have brought a budget to the floor and had a vote 
and passed the budget. Over that time, our national debt has grown by 
more than $5.2 trillion. Our credit rating has been downgraded because 
of fears we may not be able to pay back our debt when it is ultimately 
due, and we have experienced the longest period of high unemployment 
since the Great Depression.
  Since the end of the official recession in 2009, Americans' median 
household income has fallen by roughly $2,500, while the cost of 
employer-provided family health insurance has increased by more than 
$2,300--roughly a comparable amount. Not only has income fallen by 
$2,500 but costs have gone up--thanks to ObamaCare--by $2,300 for the 
average family.
  Until recently, passing a budget was considered not optional. It was 
considered a basic responsibility under the law. In fact, the Budget 
Act requires that Congress pass a budget each year, but this law has 
been defied for almost 4 years in the Senate.
  I realize the Democratic leader--the majority leader--has said he did 
not want to bring a budget to the floor because he did not want to put 
his Members through a series of politically tough votes.
  We cannot get to this problem by dealing with tax increases. This 
seems to be the preferred method of dealing with our deficits and debt 
by raising taxes, which, of course, happened as a result of the fiscal 
cliff negotiations where taxes have gone up on Americans by roughly $60 
billion a year, which will amount to almost $600 billion over the next 
10 years. Nevertheless, the President's budgets continue to ask for 
more revenue, but the message from this side of the aisle has been: The 
President has gotten his pound of flesh on taxes. Now it is time to 
deal with spending.
  Unfortunately, we no longer have the luxury of delaying our toughest 
fiscal decisions. Our gross national debt is now larger than our entire 
economy, and we are now facing more than $100 trillion in unfunded 
liabilities for things such as Medicare and Social Security. Those are 
promises we will not be able to keep unless we act now to put them on a 
fiscally sustainable path.
  I am glad our House colleagues have passed the no budget, no pay 
bill. I think most Americans appreciate the fact that if Congress 
doesn't do its basic work such as passing a budget--something every 
family and every small business in America has to do--then it should 
not be paid.
  That has already prompted Senate Democrats to say they are going to 
take up a budget this year. Senator Murray, chairman of the Budget 
Committee in the Senate, says she intends to mark up a budget. Senator 
Reid and Senator Schumer have said they intend to see that a budget is 
passed by the Chamber. But they have also said they are going to 
attempt to extract more taxes from hard-working, middle-class taxpayers 
in order to double down on Washington's spending binge.

  Our biggest fiscal problem is excessive spending, not insufficient 
taxation. We can't raise taxes high enough to close the trillion-
dollar-plus annual deficits or to make up this $16.5 trillion hole we 
have dug. If we don't reduce spending and save Social Security and 
Medicare, then we will eventually find ourselves in a debt crisis. When 
that happens is when our creditors--the people who lend us money, 
including the Chinese and other governments--demand more interest on 
our loans and, eventually, interest rates go up to historic norms, the 
debt spirals out of control, and we reach a crisis of monumental 
proportions: It strangles the economy; it destroys jobs; it destroys 
our standard of living.
  Don't take my word for it. President Obama himself has acknowledged 
that no amount of tax increases could sustain Medicare in its current 
form. He has also said public officials who are concerned about 
preserving government assistance for the elderly and the vulnerable 
have an obligation--those are his words--have an obligation to reform 
our entitlement programs and ensure their long-term viability. In other 
words, the debt is not only the single greatest threat to our national 
security, as former Chief of Staff Mike Mullen has said, it is also a 
threat to our ability to provide a safety net to the most vulnerable in 
our country.
  I know Democrats and Republicans alike in this body understand the 
problem. The President himself understands the problem. In December of 
2010, his bipartisan fiscal commission known as Simpson-Bowles reported 
the nature of the problem and a proposed beginning of a solution. Three 
of the most conservative Republican Members of the Senate agreed with 
that commission report. However, rather than embrace it, the President 
walked away from it, and he has not come back to the table.
  We also have another bipartisan commission headed by Alice Rivlin, 
who was the Director of the Office of Management and Budget under Bill 
Clinton, and Senator Pete Domenici, longtime chair of the Senate Budget 
Committee--people who understand these matters better than just about 
anybody. So there are solid, bipartisan proposals on the table. Yet 
here we are, trillions of dollars later since the Obama administration 
began, with no solution in sight.
  The President had the American people with their back against the 
wall with the expiring tax provisions on December 31 which led to the 
so-called fiscal cliff. If we hadn't acted, taxes would have gone up 
more than $3 trillion on all Americans. There would have been an 
enormously negative impact on the economy and jobs. So we had to come 
up with some sort of stopgap solution. But the President got his pound 
of flesh. He got his revenue: $600 billion over 10 years.
  Now is the time to return to what the President himself has called a 
balanced approach to deficit reduction. Unfortunately, the President 
has never even proposed a balanced approach, much less a balanced 
budget. I can only hope that with his final election campaign behind 
him and with the new term ahead of him, the President can begin to 
grapple with and join us as we deal with our long-term fiscal 
challenges.
  I yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. BLUMENTHAL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. BLUMENTHAL. Mr. President, I am here to speak first and very 
personally in support of the nomination of Senator Kerry to be our next 
Secretary of State. There is a time when the man and the moment come 
together in a profoundly historic way. Senator Kerry's nomination to be 
Secretary of State of the United States at such a time when his 
leadership can be pivotal in shaping America's role in the world, as a 
leader for human rights, as well as the use of its extraordinary 
strategic power for peace.
  There is also a time when the woman and a moment come together and 
that has been so for Hillary Clinton, who has done such extraordinary 
work, incomparable in transforming America's role in world history. I 
believe that just as she has met the challenges in guiding American 
foreign policy and

[[Page S348]]

leading the dedicated men and women of our Foreign Service, so will 
Senator Kerry rise to the difficult challenges ahead. Senator Kerry's 
whole life has prepared him for this job, and I have every confidence 
he will help keep America safe and secure and build our capacity and 
alliances in pursuit of democracy and a more peaceful world.
  Last week, I met with Senator Kerry to share my experiences from a 
recent visit to the Middle East and Afghanistan and to urge him to 
immediately take up the issue of the unfolding humanitarian catastrophe 
occurring within Syria and across its borders in Turkey and Jordan. My 
experiences came from a trip I took with Senator McCain and Senator 
Whitehouse, and others of my colleagues who share my impression that 
drastic and dramatic humanitarian aid must be provided for those 
refugees.
  I am pleased the President has announced an additional $155 million 
for the Syrian people today. I believe we must also provide aid and 
assistance to the Syrian Opposition Council. It matters as much how we 
provide this aid as the total amount we provide. I am very encouraged 
by Senator Kerry's listening and hearing us, and I look forward to 
continuing our work with soon-to-be Secretary of State Kerry on this 
issue and many other vital security concerns.