Date: 1981-04-02
Speaker: ROBERT C. BYRD (democrat)
Chamber: S

Mr. President. I thank Mr. KENNEDY for the very kind comments he has just made with reference to my efforts. I also thank Senator STENNIS for the generous comments which he earlier made regarding those efforts. I express my appreciation to Mr. HOLLINGs and to Mr. DOMENICI for the leadership skills they have demonstrated here in the consideration of this resolution. They have spent long hours. and they have evidenced at all times the fact that they knew their subject well. I want to express special commendations with respect to the work of the majority leader. This is truly an extraordinary budget resolution. and at all times the majority leader was most fair and considerate of the Members on this side of the aisle. He bent over backwards. so to speak. to accommodate the needs of Members on our side of the aisle. and I could not have asked for fairer consideration than we were given. and for this I thank the majority leader. But I also want to commend him. as I said. He demonstrated outstanding skill in the handling of this very difficult. complex resolution. He removed most of the areas where points of order would probably have lain at the very beginning. and the discipline of his Members on his side of the aisle was. I think. something remarkable to see. Now. having said that. I would like to say with respect to the resolution that we on this side of the aisle know something about the difficulties that are involved in balancing the budget and in making cuts in Federal programs. It was this time last year. possibly a little earlier. that I met for 8 days in one of the rooms just off the Chamber here with administration leaders. with House leaders. and with other Senate leaders in an exercise that was calculated to balance the budget and bring about cuts in Federal spending. When the knowledge of those proposed cuts leaked out. of course. we were deluged with mail. In some instances I know in my office the mail went as high as 300 to 1 against some of the cuts we were proposing. We balanced the budget for the first time in the first concurrent budget resolution. but the economy went into a slide and the increased costs of oil and other forms of energy made it impossible for the Government to balance the budget. So we Democrats know something about the problems that come with any effort to balance this budget. We came to the consideration of this resolution. therefore. with a determination to give of our best efforts to the balancing of the budget. and we supported. as I think I can speak generally for DemocratsI do not presume to say that I am speaking for all Democrats or for any particular individual Democratbut I think I can say that Democrats generally felt we wanted to support the scope and dimensions of the cuts that were recommended by the President. So. it should be writand writ largethat the Senate. in a bipartisan effort. has given the administration all the savings it requested. and then some. Throughout consideration of the resolution. Democratic Senators have - adhered to a single. simple strategy. We have worked to stick within the savings totals recommended by the President. At the same time we have tried to adjust the cuts so as to plug the holes in the Presidents safety net. Time after time we were defeated in this effort by an almost solid phalanx of Republican votes. The press has interpreted those votes as defeats for Senate Democrats. The record should be made clear. Mr. President. It was not the Democrats in the Senate who were defeated. It was the veterans who will receive less adequate health care who were defeated. It was the schoolchildren who will not receive school lunches who were defeated. It was the elderly people who will no longer receive minimum social security benefits and who cannot . Tord to pay their utility bills who were defeated. It was college students and disadvantaged schoolchildren who were defeated. Last fall. the American people voted for restraint in Federal spending. Democrats are in favor of cuts. In fact. we support cuts in the dimension of those requested by the President and recommended by the Budget Committee in this resolution. But the American people did not vote for less veterans health care. for less energy independence. for less access to institutions of higher learning. or for elimination of minimum social security benefits. And we Democrats. as a party. have tried to restore cuts in programs which we believe enjoy broadbased support among the American people. Senate Democrats have met several times this week and last to review this reconciliation instruction and consider proposed amendments. Some weeks ago. I appointed the distinguished Senator from New Jersey Senator BILL BRADLEY. to head an 11member economic task force. charged with the responsibility of analyzing the administrations economic program. The task force and most other Democratic Senators offered their views on many of the recommended budget cuts. We determined that each of these program reductions should be measured against specific goals which we sought to accomplish. Specifically. the cuts should: Promote economic growth and fight inflation. Provide shortterm savings that will not result in longterm costs. Be consistent with other major national priorities. such as reducing our dangerous dependence on foreign oil. and Be fair and equitable so that no single group bears a disproportionate share of the burden. In our caucus deliberations. Senate Democrats agreed to stand as a party on 11 amendments which were ultimately offered by Senate Democrats. The total increase in fiscal year 1982 outlays. had all those amendments passed. would have been $2.488 billion. But not all of our amendments attempted to restore cuts. Some sought new savings and others included offsetting savings. Had all our amendments passed savings would have been increased by $2.640 billion in fiscal year 1982. Thus. the net effect of the amendments endorsed by the Democratic conference and considered on the Senate floor would have been to increase the level of savings in the reconciliation resolution by $152 million. As Democrats. we feel obligated to address some of the central concerns and priorities of this Nation. While there is a general public commitment to reduced Federal spending. public opinion is highly selective as to where cuts ought to be made. It is by no means clear that the mandate of the November election was an endorsement of a wholesale dismantling of 30 years of social progress. It is doubtful that voters knew or understood the true dimensions of the administrations budgetary agenda. Everyone wants to eliminate waste and fraud. but few people understand "waste and fraud" to mean their childs school lunch program. veterans health care. or social security benefits. It is also doubtful that the voters understood the administrations energy policy to consist only of higher fuel prices. The administrations budget drastically cuts every alternative fuel research and development program and most conservation and strategic planning activities as well. Total reliance is placed on the discovery and development of new oil and gas reserves. although every credible study indicates that the United States will not be able to maintain even current production levels. The solution to the problem of oil Imports lies not only in conservation but also in the rapid development of other energy resourcesincluding coal and oil shale. Democrats and many Republlcans. do not believe that the comprehensive energy policy enacted by the 96th and 97th Congresses should be dismantled. The goals of the Energy Security Actto substitute 2 million barrels of imported oil a day with alternative fuelsmust be realized. I would expect the Senate Energy Committee to scrutinize these budget proposals and to restore funding for those energy development programs which hold the most promise. But. Mr. President. the people who are going to be hurt by the budget cuts will know by the record as to how we Democrats stood In our efforts to lessen the burden of those cuts. to shift the cuts elsewhere. to offset some of the cuts. and to Increase revenues by some of the amendments that were offered from our side. They will make a judgment. I would say that 6 months from today or a year from today. the people will be able to determine who was "defeated" during these floor votes. And In due time they will render a judgment that the people who were "defeated" during the past 7 days were the middle- and lowincome families and many people who are living on small fixed incomes. The burden of balancing the budget is falling on those who are least able to bear It in most instances. Many of the cuts constitute false economy. and In the long run we will all pay more as a result. For example. there are the cuts in EDA. Farmers Home. Appalachian Regional Commission. and energy pro* grams. Mr. President. this is the first round in the budget process. There will be other times when the Senate will meet and again and again deal with these matters. And we. on this side of the aisle. will continue our diligence in behalf of the people. In the main we will support increased defense spending. The Senate has already been doing that. We will support regulatory reform. and we will support restraint in Federal spending. We will support a tax cut that is fair and equitable and that will encourage business investment and increase productivity. I. again. congratulate the majority leader and those on his side of the aisle who have shepherded this resolution through the Senate. I admire the way that he held his votes together. I do say thisand I do not say it facetiously. I think it is a matter of fact. His party in the Senate has been in the minority a long time. That minority has not found it difficult over the years to stand united as a party. The Democratic Party is a very diverse party and has been in the majority a long time and has not. I suppose. seen the necessity to stand as unified as the Republican minority was able to do. And now that ability to wield a unified Republican force in the Senate certainly stands the distinguished majority leader in good stead. I compliment him. I admire his work. Again. I say I could not have asked for more fair consideration at all times throughout the debate on this resolutionand it is a historic resolution. He has certainly gone out of his way to accommodate the needs and the requests of the minority Members on this side of the aisle and I thank him for it. We understand that we cannot always agree on substance. And in this instance. I think both sides have played their respective parts as they saw their duty to play those respective parts. I think they did well. I want to commend and thank my colleagues on my side of the aisle. because I think they. too. gain from this very interesting exercise. Our meetings. I think. brought us closer together. Our Members had the opportunity to voice their views. Not all of the amendments. by any means. that were called up on our side were agreed upon in the caucus to have the support of the party. But. nevertheless. Members had the right as individuals to call up their amendments. On the votes dealing with partysponsored amendments. as agreed upon in caucus. our party held together very well. On the vote. first of all. on veterans health services. as I remember. we lost three Members on our side and one independent. We picked up one Member from the other side. On the second veterans health services vote. we. I think. lost the same number and we picked up two votes on the Republican side of the aisle. So my party Members held together very. very well in support of the amendments agreed upon in caucus. But the arithmetic was plain. We were always outnumbered by the majority party. I thank my Democratic colleagues for the support that they gave. and I commend them. I believe that where we felt that the cuts were not fair or that the safety net was indeed letting certain groups of people slip through. I believe that the American people will. in the final analysis. be able to say "well done" to those on this side of the aisle for the votes that they have cast. for the positions they have taken. and for the amendments that they have offered. As to the Senators on the other side. they. too. worked hard. We have had excellent attendance o1 both sides of the aisle. I think all Senators are to be comiended. We may not all agree. but when all is said and done. we are all trying to do what we think is the best for our country. Finally. let me apologize to the distinguished majority leader for keeping him waiting. I ask unanimous consent to insert certain memorandums prepared by the Senate Democratic Policy Committee staff.