[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 1]
[Senate]
[Page 227]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                               THE BUDGET

  Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, in listening to some of our colleagues on 
the other side of the aisle--both in speeches here and in press 
statements they have made--I repeatedly hear them saying we have not 
had a budget for 1,000 days. That is just wrong. That is absolutely 
wrong. Sometimes I wonder if our colleagues are paying attention to 
what goes on here on the floor of the Senate. Have they already 
forgotten the Budget Control Act? Here it is. On August 2nd of last 
year, the Budget Control Act passed this body 74 to 26. More than half 
of our Republican colleagues voted for it. Didn't they know what they 
were voting on? The Budget Control Act contains the budget for this 
year and for next year. Weren't they paying attention? Don't they know 
what they voted on?
  In many ways, the Budget Control Act is stronger than a typical 
budget resolution, and it is stronger in these ways: No. 1, it is more 
extensive than a traditional budget resolution. No. 2, it has the force 
of law. Unlike a budget resolution that is not signed by the President, 
the Budget Control Act that we passed last August, that provides the 
budget for this year and for next year, is a law passed by the House of 
Representatives, passed by the Senate, signed by the President of the 
United States--the Budget Control Act. It also set discretionary caps 
on spending for 10 years instead of the 1 year normally set in a budget 
resolution.
  So when our colleagues come out here and say we have not had a budget 
in 1,000 days, wow, can they really have missed the vote, the debate, 
the consideration of the Budget Control Act? Did they really miss all 
that or--or--are they saying something they know to be untrue, because 
really those are the only choices you are left with. Either they do not 
know what they did or they are misrepresenting what we all did.
  Not only does the Budget Control Act set discretionary caps for 10 
years, it also provided enforcement mechanisms, including a 2-year 
``deeming'' resolution, allowing budget points of order to be enforced. 
That is what a budget does. It sets the spending levels, it creates 
spending caps, and it provides enforcement mechanisms. All of that is 
in the Budget Control Act we passed on August 2nd of last year with a 
vote of 74 to 26. Not only did we pass it, but the Republican-
controlled House passed it, and the President signed it. It is the law 
of the land. It sets the budget for this year. It sets the budget for 
next year. It provides enforcement mechanisms. It sets 10 years of 
spending caps. And it created a reconciliation-like supercommittee to 
address entitlement and tax reforms. That supercommittee did not come 
up with a result, but they were established in the Budget Control Act, 
and they were given the authority--just like a reconciliation provision 
would--to come back with a package that could not be filibustered and 
could not be altered and could pass with a simple majority. That is the 
fact.
  So if we hear colleagues come out and say one more time that we have 
not had a budget for 1,000 days, I hope somebody will have the sense to 
stand up and say: Really? What was the Budget Control Act about? What 
was this legislation that passed not only the Senate on a vote of 74 to 
26 but passed the House of Representatives, which is controlled by the 
other party, and was signed by the President of the United States?
  Republican rhetoric aside, Congress did pass a budget--not through 
the normal way of a budget resolution but through an actual law. The 
Republican-controlled House passed it, the Democratic Senate passed it, 
and the President signed it.
  The Budget Control Act set 10 years of spending caps, established a 
2-year ``deeming'' resolution to enforce spending levels, and it 
created a reconciliation-like process to consider entitlement and tax 
reform.
  I hope we have laid this issue to rest. So now if I hear colleagues 
come out and say that we have not had a budget for 1,000 days--I will 
know they have been put on fair notice. Maybe they missed somehow what 
they were voting on back in August. Maybe they gapped out. Maybe they 
forgot. But you know what, they voted for it. Every Member of the 
Senate voted on the Budget Control Act. Seventy-four to twenty-six--add 
it up--that is 100. Everybody was here. And if they did not know what 
they were voting on, now they do. So if I hear another assertion that 
there has not been a budget for 1,000 days, I will know and the 
listeners will know that somebody is not telling the truth.
  I thank the Chair and yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. LEE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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