[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 24 (Thursday, February 14, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Pages S728-S729]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                             Time To Govern

  Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, I rise to mark another sad record for 
the Senate: 1,387 days since the Senate has passed a budget--1,387 
days.
  The last time I checked the 2012 election was over, and of course it 
has been over for more than 3 months now. Unfortunately, the President 
still seems to be very much in campaign mode, giving speeches all 
around the country. For the time being, what we need, rather than a 
President on a perpetual campaign, is for Democrats and Republicans to 
work together to try and solve some of our Nation's most pressing 
problems, and there is no more important issue than our national debt.
  Unfortunately, the President, after extracting about $600 billion in 
new taxes as a result of the fiscal cliff negotiations, is still coming 
back to the well, and he is calling for tens of billions of dollars in 
new spending. At a time when we ought to be talking about bending the 
cost curve down, trying to rein in wasteful Washington spending, the 
President wants to spend more, and he wants to raise taxes to do it.
  Perhaps worst of all, we know the promises we made to our seniors for 
Medicare and Social Security are imperiled. Unless we act together to 
save and protect Social Security and Medicare, they are on a pathway to 
bankruptcy, and that is irresponsible and wrong.
  I am tempted to describe President Obama's spending and tax ideas as 
small ball, but they are worse than that. They represent a conscious 
decision to neglect some of the most pressing issues that confront our 
country. One might even say it is a dereliction of duty in the battle 
to save America.

  Last week, the Congressional Budget Office projected our gross 
national debt will increase from $16 trillion in 2012 to $26 trillion 
in 2023. Now that may seem like a long way off, but since President 
Obama has been President, the national debt has gone up by 55 percent--
just in the last 4 years. If we project that forward to 2023, when some 
of these young men and women who are working here as pages will be 
looking at entering the workforce and looking at their futures, all 
they will see ahead of them is debt and a reduced standard of living. 
This is what lies ahead for all of us unless we embrace real spending 
cuts and unless we deal with the unfunded liabilities of Medicare and 
Social Security.
  If President Obama has a secret strategy for getting our debt under 
control, we would all love to hear it. His last two budget proposals 
failed to receive a single vote in the Senate. The last 2 years his 
budget has actually been put to a vote, no Democrat voted for it and no 
Republican, because it simply didn't address the problems I have 
described. I hope this year is different. Unfortunately, the President 
has already missed the statutory deadline for submitting his own 
budget, which was February 4. I hope when he finally gets around to 
sending us his proposed budget it is a serious plan for long-term debt 
reduction. Based on experience, I can't say I am overly optimistic, but 
hope springs eternal.
  I guess one of the things that worries me the most is that in the 
President's State of the Union message, which he so eloquently 
delivered a few nights ago, he didn't say one word about his 2014 
budget--not one word. I would urge the President to take a long hard 
look at the new Congressional Budget Office report. I would urge him to 
launch serious bipartisan budget negotiations as soon as possible so we 
can avoid another last-minute cliffhanger and another 2 a.m. Senate 
vote.
  Above all, I would urge the President to take a look at a balanced 
budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution that I have cosponsored along 
with all of my colleagues on this side of the aisle. That amendment 
would require the Federal Government to balance its budget each and 
every year.
  Is that such a crazy idea? Well, no. That is what every family has to 
do. That is what every small business has to do. And that is what 49 
States are required to do under their laws. This amendment to the 
Constitution would be the 28th amendment to the Constitution, including 
the first 10, which are, of course, our Bill of Rights. It would 
require a congressional supermajority to raise taxes or to raise the 
debt ceiling.
  As I said a moment ago, families across America have to balance their 
budgets. And, of course, along with a budget brings the discipline of 
deciding what our priorities are--the things we have to have and we 
can't live without, the things we want but we have to defer, and then 
the things that maybe we would like to have but simply can't afford. 
Well, this number right here, 1,387 days since the Senate passed a 
budget, is one reason why our debt continues to go up by leaps and 
bounds, and there is no plan in sight to bring it under control.
  Here is the bottom line for President Obama: The 2012 election is 
over, and now it is time to govern. It is time to move beyond the 
campaign rhetoric, drop the gimmicks and work across the aisle with 
Republicans to do what is right for the country. We are ready, willing, 
and able to engage with the President and our Democratic colleagues to 
try to address these problems that confront our country. In fact, there 
is no good reason for any of us to be here unless we are willing to do 
that.
  Madam President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Delaware.
  Mr. CARPER. Madam President, while the Senator from Texas is still on 
the floor, he knows I have a lot of respect and affection for him, and 
I am delighted to serve with him here and also to serve with him on the 
Finance Committee. I appreciate Senator Shaheen for letting me jump in 
for just a minute.

  We agree on so much. We actually do. And not just the Senator and I 
but our colleagues here. And I think we fully recognize that although 
the deficit comes down from $1.5 trillion to about $850 billion or so, 
it is way too much. I think we also agree that one of the best ways to 
reduce the deficit is to strengthen and grow the economy.
  I believe--and I think I heard the President say this the other 
night--there are three things we need to make sure we address.
  One, we need to address--and the President said this--we need to 
address entitlement programs, not to savage old people or to savage 
poor people but to figure out how to get better health care results for 
less money to be able to preserve those programs for the long haul.
  I think we will have an interesting proposal from Senator Durbin 
later this year with respect to Social Security and putting it in a 
structured way, maybe a path forward on Social Security that makes it 
clear we are not trying to balance the budget on Social Security but 
actually do reforms that we

[[Page S729]]

know are needed and I know are needed so we will have that program for 
the long haul.
  I commend my side of the aisle, and I commend your side of the aisle. 
We acknowledge that we need some revenues, whether it is on the tax 
expenditure side, the deductions and loopholes and so forth, or finding 
other ways to raise revenue.
  Third, we just came from a press conference this morning with 
Congressman Issa, Congressman Cummings, Senator Coburn, and myself to 
focus on the GAO and their high-risk list, high-risk ways for wasting 
money. That comes out today. Every 2 years they give us this high-risk 
list for how to find ways to save money and spend our tax dollars more 
efficiently.
  We have all that working together, those three things: entitlement 
reform, some additional revenues, and actually looking in every nook 
and cranny to see how we can get a better result for less money. Those 
we can do together. My colleague and I have worked on some things 
together, and I want to work on those with the Senator, and I look 
forward to that. I think that if we do, a lot of our colleagues will 
join us.
  Mr. CORNYN. Would the Senator yield for a question?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Republican Whip.
  Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, I would like to tell the distinguished 
Senator from Delaware how much I appreciate him and his friendship, and 
it is genuine.
  I guess the thing that is so maddening about serving in the Senate is 
that everyone in this body--the Senator from Delaware, the Senator from 
New Hampshire--everyone who serves in this body understands the 
problems that confront our country that he so eloquently described in 
terms of unfunded liabilities for Medicare and Social Security, which 
are on a path to bankruptcy, the debt, and just imagine, if interest 
rates were to go up, what that would mean in terms of our ability to 
fund everything from safety net programs to national defense.
  But it never seems to happen. The date never seems to arrive when we 
actually sit down and address it. And I believe this number of days 
without a budget is really symptomatic of the problem. But thanks to 
our colleagues across the Capitol--who passed a ``no budget, no pay'' 
bill, which has now been signed by the President--unless Congress 
passes a budget, we are not going to get paid, which is entirely 
appropriate and long overdue.
  So I would just say to my friend, and he is my friend, that I 
appreciate his comments. I hope someday soon we can find a way, 
Republicans and Democrats alike--that is the only way it is going to 
happen--I hope we can get serious about this. Unfortunately, it hasn't 
happened yet. I am an optimist. I think it can happen. But it is going 
to require Presidential leadership, and, frankly, that is one reason I 
wish the President would get off the campaign trail. Now that he has 
won--he has another 4-year term--he doesn't have to worry about running 
for election again, but then to work with us because that is the only 
way it is going to happen.
  So I appreciate his comments and look forward to continuing to work 
with the Senator.
  Mr. CARPER. Again, I thank Senator Shaheen and Senator Hoeven for 
allowing us to have this colloquy.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Hampshire.
  Mrs. SHAHEEN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as if 
in morning business.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.