[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 4]
[Senate]
[Page 4588]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           A BALANCED BUDGET

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, for years, the Democrat-led Senate 
refused to pass a balanced budget. It usually failed to produce any 
budget at all. Maybe this made the special interests happy, but it was 
infuriating for many in the middle class. These Americans called for 
change.
  Today, a Senate under new management is delivering that change. The 
new Senate is prepared to pass a balanced budget with ideas that could 
boost jobs, raise annual wages by as much as $5,000 per family, and 
drive economic growth for hard-working Americans. That is what the 
nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office tells us, and it is no wonder.
  This balanced budget would embrace the energy revolution and allow 
for more environmentally responsible innovations. It would repeal 
unfair taxes such as those in ObamaCare and set the table for more 
comprehensive replacement of the outdated Tax Code with one that is 
simpler and more effective. And it would provide tools finally to 
repeal and replace ObamaCare itself, leaving the law's higher costs and 
broken promises where they belong--in the past--in favor of a fresh 
start and the opportunity for real health reform.
  So while this balanced budget might upset special interests, that is 
OK, because it is focused on the middle class instead. It is focused on 
helping the most vulnerable too.
  Here is what we know about important programs such as Medicare. We 
can make commonsense improvements to save these programs today or we 
can allow draconian cuts to fall on the most vulnerable in the years 
ahead. These are essentially our only two options. We can't tax the 
problem away. Denying the facts won't help either.
  So we invite all of our friends to join us as positive reformers, not 
insensitive deniers. Let's work together to improve Medicaid as this 
balanced budget proposes. While our balanced budget cannot solve every 
challenge, it will move us further down the path of positive reform. It 
will make government more efficient, more effective, and more 
accountable to the middle class.
  The budget also contains a good-faith compromise to begin the 
legislative process for the Defense authorization bill we will consider 
later this year, when additional OCO funds can be prudently reallocated 
against the actual procurement and modernization needs of our military, 
if only for the coming fiscal year. This is the best strategy, short of 
revising the BCA, for keeping faith with our armed services, and it is 
the best option we currently have for leaving the next President in a 
better position to face global challenges.
  So I wish to thank Chairman Enzi for all of his good work in putting 
this balanced budget together. It certainly wasn't easy. It is a good 
balanced budget that everyone should want to support.
  That is especially true when we compare it to the other alternatives 
here. It is the only alternative, actually, since our friends still 
don't seem to be in the habit of producing a budget of their own.
  The alternative on offer was the budget we voted on Tuesday from 
President Obama. Someone called it the left's dream budget. But that 
dream ended up being so unserious and embarrassing that not more than a 
single Democrat could muster the courage to vote for it. In a way, it 
is hard to blame our friends. It would be pretty embarrassing and 
insensitive to support a budget that contains trillions more in 
overspending, almost $2 trillion more in taxes, and hardly any serious 
ideas to save the programs for the most vulnerable.
  No wonder this budget went down in flames 98 to 1--98 to 1. That was 
the vote on the President's budget. That 98, by the way, was against 
the President's budget.
  So only one budget remains. It is a balanced budget that will focus 
on growth, common sense, and the middle class. It isn't perfect, but it 
does represent honest compromise and the promise of a better tomorrow.
  If Senators would prefer to amend it, they will have that opportunity 
this evening. Members of both parties will be able to offer amendments. 
I know many of our friends across the aisle are eager to do that. 
Republicans will have their chance too. There is a lot we expect to 
consider.
  For instance, do Senators want to be seen supporting a policy that 
costs up to a million jobs or will they stand tall for American jobs 
instead? Will Senators support more tired tax hikes or will they 
support the jobs those higher taxes threaten to destroy? And do 
Senators want to raise the cost of energy or do they want to see the 
American people reap benefits of our energy revolution?
  So tonight, the American people will have their voices heard again in 
the Senate under new management. They will see a new Congress that is 
back to work again and on their behalf. After considering all of these 
amendments, we will take a vote. When the budget passes, we will 
conference with the House. That is how this process has worked 
historically. It is what the American people have a right to expect 
now, and that is what we hope to see again shortly.

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