[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 8]
[Senate]
[Pages 11092-11093]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          BUDGET NEGOTIATIONS

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, over the past few days, a lot of people 
have taken it upon themselves to offer Republicans in Congress and me 
in particular their advice on the debt limit. I have listened to all of 
it very carefully. I appreciate how frustrating it is for people to 
think that in spite of everything we know about the state of our 
economy, and despite all the warnings we have heard about the dangers 
presented by our deficits and debt, we can't do something about it. I 
share that frustration. No one has spent more time cajoling and 
persuading this White House of the need to do something big.
  I was truly hopeful the President could be persuaded to view the 
upcoming debt limit vote as an opportunity to cut Washington spending 
and the debt that has ballooned since he took office, and to preserve 
entitlements at the same time. But, in the end, he wasn't interested in 
doing something of that magnitude that would pass.
  He gave us three bad choices: higher taxes, smoke and mirrors or 
default, and we refuse to accept any of them. Republicans will not be 
reduced to being the tax collectors for the Obama economy. We will not 
be seduced into calling a bad deal a good deal, and we will not let the 
White House fool around with the full faith and credit of the United 
States.
  If the President wants to threaten seniors or veterans or rattle the 
world economy by pretending he cannot pay our bills, he, of course, can 
do that. But he is not going to implicate Republicans in these efforts.
  That is why I proposed, as a last resort, a plan that would force the 
White House to show its hand. If the President would rather default 
than cut back on the size and scope of government, let him explain 
that. If he would rather preserve his vision of Washington than protect 
entitlements, let him explain that. If he and the Democratic Senate 
would rather borrow and spend us into oblivion, they can certainly do 
that. But do not expect any more cover from Republicans on it than they 
got on health care--none.
  The American people deserve to know what their elected 
representatives stand for in this debate. None of these proposals that 
have been presented up to now would do that.
  If Democrats will not agree to reforms we need, then we should at 
least show the public where we stand. What they wanted was a deal that 
purported to lower the debt from $26 trillion to $24 trillion over 10 
years, then have us give it thumbs up and call it a bipartisan victory 
for fiscal discipline. We

[[Page 11093]]

were not about to call this a good deal any more than we were willing 
to call the health care bill real reform.
  We refuse to let this President use the threat of a debt-limit 
deadline to get us to cave on tax hikes or phony spending cuts. It is 
time to change this debate altogether. It is time to make it clear to 
the American people where the two parties stand in this debate.
  Either you are with the President and his vision of a government that 
continues to live beyond its means or you are with those of us who 
believe Washington needs some strong medicine. Either you want to 
simply borrow and spend our Nation into oblivion or you want to get our 
fiscal house in order, and the single most effective way to do that is 
with a balanced budget amendment.
  If the President and Democrats in Congress will not agree to cut 
back, let's force them. Let's pass a constitutional amendment that 
actually requires Congress to live within its means.
  It is time for the American people to contact lawmakers on the 
Democratic side and simply demand it. Republicans are unanimous in 
their support for a balanced budget amendment. We need 20 Democrats to 
join us.
  It is an uphill climb, but if the American people speak out, we can 
get it done. If the President will not agree to it, it is time we go 
around him and directly to the American people.
  Let's keep the pressure on. Let's show the administration where the 
public is on this issue. Let's get our fiscal house in order.
  I yield the floor.

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