Kent Conrad

Mr. CONRAD

Mr. CONRAD. I am delighted to yield the Senator 2 minutes off the resolution.

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, I yield myself time off of the resolution. I want to say to my colleagues that we are rapidly approaching a defining moment of this year's budget resolution. We have just a few hours left, and we have requests for much more time than there is available. I remind colleagues of the way this works. Even though I have 4 hours remaining--how much time remains on this side?

Mr. CONRAD. Does the Senator from West Virginia have any time?

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Nebraska for taking the time. I also thank him very much for being flexible about when to come so we can keep the business flowing and not have dead time. I appreciate very much his accommodating the managers.

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, the Senator from Nebraska is seeking time. How much time would he desire? I yield five minutes off the resolution to the distinguished Senator from Nebraska.

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, we are going to try to not let time be wasted in quorum calls because time is such a precious commodity at this point. I will take a moment to talk about the budget resolution before us and what I think are the deficiencies of that resolution. Let me put up this first chart that shows the operating deficits under the budget resolution that is before us. The hard reality is, the budget resolution before us will add nearly $3 trillion to the debt in just the next 5 years. Already we have record budget deficits. This year the Congressional Budget Office is saying the deficit will be nearly $500 billion. But that does not tell the whole story. Actually, on an operating basis the deficit is even larger because nearly $160 billion of Social Security money is being used for other purposes as well. So if one looked at an operating basis, the true deficit would be the $477 billion plus another $160 billion. That is approaching $650 billion on a $2.3 trillion budget. That is a big budget deficit by any objective measure. Here it is, $638 billion. As we see it, under the resolution that is before us, this operating deficit never gets below $500 billion as far as the eye can see. Some are saying this budget resolution will cut the deficit in half in 3 years. Well, that is a certain definition of deficit that does not reveal the full story. It does not talk about how much is actually being added to the debt. The reason for the difference is one includes Social Security trust funds and one does not. Right now the Social Security trust funds are running very large and growing surpluses. Under the budget resolution before us, all of that Social Security money is being taken over the next 5 years to pay for other things. When the chairman of the committee talks about cutting the deficit in half in the next 3 years and cutting it in an even larger way by the fifth year, here is what his assumptions are: He says in the fifth year the deficit will be down to $202 billion. Here are the things he is leaving out: Under his resolution, he is also going to take $235 billion from Social Security, every penny of which has to be paid back and there is no plan to do it. He is taking $22 billion out of the Medicare trust fund, every penny of which has to be paid back and he has no plan to do that. In addition, it would cost $55 billion to fix the alternative minimum tax in that year. The alternative minimum tax is the old millionaires' tax that is rapidly becoming a middle-class tax trap. Why do I say that? Well, right now only 3 million people are affected by the alternative minimum tax. By the end of this 10-year budget period, there are going to be 40 million people. Those people who thought they were going to get a tax cut are in for a rude surprise. On top of that, he leaves out the residual war cost in that fifth year which, according to the Congressional Budget Office, will be $30 billion. So instead of adding to the debt by $202 billion, which one might conclude when he says he is going to run a deficit of that amount for that year, we see he is actually going to be adding to the debt by $545 billion. Still lots of things are left out. For example, on war costs, in the President's budget he has no funding for the war in Iraq, no funding for the war in Afghanistan, no funding for the war on terror past September 30 of this year. To the chairman's credit, he has put in $30 billion, although interestingly enough he does not add it to his deficit totals. So it is magic money. It is money that is on paper, says it is available, but he does not count it. Look at what the Congressional Budget Office tells us ought to be the money set aside for war costs. They say $280 billion is what it is going to cost over this next period of time. The chairman has $30 billion in his budget resolution, although he does not really provide the money, he does not count it in his deficit calculations. It is, as I say, magic money: Now you see it, now you don't. The President has no money. So I go back to this calculation of what this budget resolution adds to the debt and what kind of operating deficits it runs, and they are much larger than is being revealed. Here is what I mean. From 2004 to 2005, it will add $612 billion to the debt. The next year, $569 billion is added to the debt. These are not my numbers. This is from the chairman's own mark. These are from his documents. The third year it adds $552 billion to the debt. The fourth year, $563 billion to the debt; the fifth year another $563 billion to the debt. That is a cumulative total of nearly $3 trillion to the debt, and all at the worst possible time, right before the baby boomers retire. I know my colleague from Idaho is waiting so I am going to wrap this up, and I know Senator Nelson is seeking time as well. This is a final point I think is important to understand: The deficit on a unified basis, when Social Security is included and other things are left out, is going down. That is misleading us as to our true fiscal condition because the additions to the debt are basically stable, but if I examine the chairman's proposal he is actually adding to the deficit beyond what would occur if we did nothing in this Chamber. I hope my colleagues are listening. The chairman's budget adds to the deficit in each of the next 5 years by $177 billion over and above what would happen if we did nothing. If we just put the Government on automatic pilot, we would have $177 billion less in deficit over the next 5 years than if we passed this budget resolution. I hope my colleagues study this document very carefully because I think it conceals much of the true financial condition of our country. I yield the floor, because I know colleagues are seeking time.

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, for a moment I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. CONRAD. I don't know if the chairman seeks to use time now on that amendment.

Mr. CONRAD. Might we also lock in the Dorgan amendment? We have a copy of that amendment, and we have gotten an agreement on our side to have 20 minutes equally divided on that amendment.

Mr. CONRAD. I could yield 10 minutes off the resolution to the Senator from Michigan. How much time does the Senator from New Jersey seek?

Mr. CONRAD. Reserving the right to object.

Mr. CONRAD. Madam President, I am happy to yield an additional 5 minutes to the Senator from Michigan off the resolution.

Mr. CONRAD. I yield an additional 3 minutes to the Senator from New Jersey off the resolution.

Mr. CONRAD. I yield 20 minutes to the Senator from California at this point, just for her side.

Mr. CONRAD. Yes, 40 minutes equally divided.

Mr. CONRAD. Then 40 minutes equally divided? Is that what the Senator is seeking?

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. Chairman, might we agree to a time on her amendment of 30 minutes equally divided?

Mr. CONRAD. I thank the Chair. How much time would the Senator need?

Mr. CONRAD. He did say that. It is a rather remarkable statement. He thought it was good for the country that jobs were outsourced overseas.

Mr. CONRAD

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, for the information of our colleagues, this is where we stand at this moment on this side. We are down to about 10 amendments that would require votes if we are not able to work them out. Let me list, on our side, the amendments and the rough order. Please do not hold me to this specific order, other than the first five, because it is really the first five that we have made commitments on: Senator Landrieu, the amendment she has already offered; Senator Levin, on homeland security; Senator Durbin, on global AIDS; Senator Lautenberg, on debt limit; Senator Schumer, an amendment that relates to the Energy bill; and then, in addition to that, Senator Dayton, on IDEA; Senator Graham, on Pell grants; Senator Byrd, on bioshield; Senator Lincoln, with respect to the childcare tax credit; and Senator Kennedy, on Medicare. Those are the remaining major amendments on this side. I think that gets them all. There is also an amendment that is cosponsored by a number of people on our side as well as people on the other side. We also have a Reed amendment on higher education; and Pryor on IRA, that was not agreed to. We also have an amendment that is in negotiation, I might say, from Senator Leahy, on nutrition. On the other side, there is an amendment from Senator Dole on nutrition. There are amendments on the other side that maybe the chairman could review.

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, on behalf of Senator Clinton, we have an amendment that establishes a reserve fund for addressing minority health disparities, an agreement on both sides. I ask for approval of our colleagues.

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, might I recommend, in terms of the order on this side, if we are putting aside Landrieu, with the hopes of perhaps working that out, that we go to Senator Levin. He is next on our side. If the chairman would want to go to your side?

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, this amendment is cosponsored by Senator Murray on this side. We strongly support the amendment and hope our colleagues will accept it.