[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 3]
[Senate]
[Pages 4167-4168]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




    IN SUPPORT OF REDUCING THE SENATE'S BUDGET BY AT LEAST 5 PERCENT

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Rules 
Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. Res. 94 and 
the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The clerk will report the resolution by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 94) to express the sense of the 
     Senate in support of reducing its budget by at least 5 
     percent.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motions to 
reconsider be laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate, 
and any statements related to the resolution be printed in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The resolution (S. Res. 94) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:

                               S. Res. 94

       Whereas, the current level Federal spending is 
     unsustainable and action to reverse this course should not be 
     delayed;
       Whereas, in 2010, Federal spending was nearly 24 percent of 
     the value of all the goods and services produced in the 
     United States;
       Whereas, the Federal deficit was over $1 trillion in fiscal 
     year 2010;
       Whereas, Federal spending is at its highest percentage 
     since World War II;
       Whereas, the Congressional Budget Office estimates if the 
     United States maintains its current track of Federal 
     spending, the Federal debt would reach 90 percent of the 
     value

[[Page 4168]]

     of all the goods and services produced in the United States 
     by 2020;
       Whereas, the national debt exceeds $13.9 trillion dollars;
       Whereas, the United States borrows $44,000 for every person 
     in the country;
       Whereas, the unemployment rate was 9.8 percent in December;
       Whereas, the American people have responded to the economic 
     downturn by making hard choices and trimming their family 
     budgets;
       Whereas, spending in the legislative branch rose nearly 50 
     percent over the last 10 years; and
       Whereas, in order to address the Nation's fiscal crisis, 
     the Senate should lead by example and reduce its own 
     legislative budget: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that it should 
     lead by example and reduce the budget of the Senate by at 
     least 5 percent.

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