Cut, Cap and Balance Act of 2011

Floor Speech

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, we are going to move to a debate on our budget deficit, particularly on the debt ceiling we face on August 2. The proposal before us was enacted by the House yesterday on a virtually partisan rollcall, with one or two exceptions. The Republicans passed a proposal which they have characterized as cut, cap, and balance, and they will bring it to the floor of the Senate for consideration. It tries to project spending targets and cuts in spending for the years to come and also to include in the conversation the balanced budget amendment.

It is interesting, the way they approach it, because the balanced budget amendment is literally an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, and those of us who take our oath seriously--and I assume that is every Member of Congress and the Senate--understand that we are sworn to uphold this Constitution. In other words, it is to be treated as the guiding document for our actions as Members of Congress. I have taken that oath many times as a House and Senate Member, and I take it seriously.

Also, because of that oath, I am skeptical of those who come forward and want to amend the Constitution on a regular basis. We have had 27 amendments to the Constitution. They have been enacted over the course of our Nation's history. They address some of the most serious issues and most historic moments in our history. I think we should address that document, that Constitution, with an air of humility, a feeling that before we add our words, whatever they may be, to this great document that has endured for more than 200 years, we should take care and be serious about it.

I don't often question the motives or the intentions of others who come to the floor, and I won't do it in this instance, but I will say that to have before us, as we will later in the day, a proposal that we amend the Constitution of the United States by choosing one of three options--and that literally is what we will face, three different versions of a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution, and what we will consider here will address choosing one of them. I don't think we were elected to the Senate and sworn to uphold the Constitution to be part of a multiple-choice test about what the next amendment will be. I think we should be much more serious in our undertaking.

I will also tell you that I have been here in Congress long enough to remember a little bit of history. There once was a President named Ronald Reagan, and Ronald Reagan, as President of the United States, was in a leadership position of the United States at a critical moment in our history, there is no question about it. Some amazing things occurred during his administration, but when it came to the budget side of things, there was some history made there as well.

We are considering the debt ceiling of the United States. What is the debt ceiling of the United States? The debt ceiling of the United States is the authority Congress gives to the President to borrow money.

Each year, the Treasury Secretary will call the President and say: I need additional authority to borrow money. Why does he ask for additional authority? Because Congress--the House and the Senate--sent requests for more spending, and the President has to borrow money to honor those requests. How much does the President have to borrow? In this day and age, about 40 cents for every dollar we spend.

So the President has been told that August 2 is the drop-dead date. He needs more authority to borrow money for the actions taken by Congress. As an example, many Members of Congress--even some who now say they won't give the President this authority--voted for America to go to war not once but twice, and in so voting, for example, on the war in Afghanistan, they are committing the United States of America to spending $10 billion a month in defense of our men and women in uniform, members of our family who are waging this war. They voted for that.

Now President Obama has said to them: The bill is coming in for the war in Afghanistan, and I have to borrow money to pay for it. These same Members of Congress--the House and Senate--who voted for the war in Afghanistan are now saying: We won't pay the bills. We won't extend the debt ceiling. We won't allow you, Mr. President, to borrow the money to sustain our military forces in Afghanistan.

That is literally what we are talking about here in this debate. The American people are starting to come to understand because when you first ask a person, do you want to extend the debt ceiling, the obvious answer is, no, are you crazy, Senator? Why would I want more debt in this country? We need less debt, not more. Don't you get it?

Understandably, that is the public reaction. But when you go to the point of explaining that this is to pay for debts we have already incurred--and it is not just to wage war; it is a debt incurred to pay for Medicare. We said to 65-year-olds across America: You get a health insurance plan called Medicare, and it will be there when you need it. When you go to the hospital and turn in your bills, we will pay that doctor and we will pay that hospital. And we borrowed money to do it.

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