April 11,2003

Baucus Expresses Concern of Undermining Byrd Rule; Calls for Responsible Level of Economic Stimulus

Excerpt of Floor Statement of Senator Max Baucus


"Mr. President, so often Members of Congress, the President of the United States, andmembers of the press refer to events as Ahistoric.@ The vote we are about to take on the BudgetResolution is one of those events. If this resolution passes, then April 11, 2003 will be included inthe history books as the day the Senate relinquished part of its Constitutional purpose and power.

I believe we are at a critical juncture. In 1996, the Senate parliamentarian ruled that thebudget resolution=s streamlined reconciliation protection could also be used to pass tax cuts B that isprovisions that increase deficits.

The budget resolution can now include instructions to the Finance Committee to report taxcuts that can be passed in subsequent legislation with only 51 votes in the Senate. That rulingturned the Budget Act on its head. Unfortunately today=s parliamentary maneuver goes even furtherB it turns Senate procedure on its head.

The instructions regarding the tax cut establish new precedents that will expand the power ofthe House and the leadership of the Senate. The precedents will diminish the power of anyindividual Senator, the Senate=s Committees, and whichever party happens to be in the minority atany given time. Thus, this new budget resolution scheme runs counter to the rules governingCongress since Congress first convened in 1789.

If the chair rules that the instruction to the Senate Finance Committee for the level of aneconomic stimulus package of $550 billion -- the House passed level -- then I believe that approvalof the budget resolution would eviscerate a significant part of the Byrd Rule.

The Senate would have created a mechanism to, at minimum, eliminate the effect of thisByrd Rule provision in consideration of conference reports. Under this ruling, there would be nobasis for stopping further erosion of the Byrd Rule. The drafters could eliminate the use of the ByrdRule provision by setting a very high instruction number to the Committee, and setting points oforder at lower amounts at whatever steps along the way were necessary to command vote sufficientto pass the bill.

If these actions go forward, this ruling will come back to haunt the Senate. It may enhancethe Senate=s ability to pass bigger tax cuts. It may enhance the Senate=s ability to pass largerspending increases. It may do both. But it will not help the Senate to reduce the deficit, which wasthe purpose of the reconciliation provisions.

I urge every member of this body to fully examine the effects this ruling will have on theSenate and our nation.

It is irresponsible to go forward with this plan and I cannot support the procedural schemecooked up in this budget. I urge my colleagues to vote against it as well.