The Conrad-Gregg amendment is expected to be considered in the Senate tomorrow as an amendment to the bill that would raise the national debt limit.
The full text of Senator Collins' remarks is as follows:
"I rise today to speak on behalf of the amendment offered by Senators Conrad and Gregg to create a bipartisan budget commission to address the nation's long-term fiscal crisis.
"The Conrad-Gregg amendment proposes an 18-member bipartisan commission, which would design a specific plan to correct the government's long-term fiscal imbalances. All options would be on the table. The Commission's legislative recommendations would require expedited consideration by key Congressional committees, a super-majority vote in both chambers of Congress, and Presidential approval. While I would prefer that members of Congress have the ability to offer revenue-neutral amendments to the Commission's recommendations, it is imperative that we move forward on this proposal, and I am pleased to be a cosponsor of the legislation.
"America's out-of-control debt is a grave threat to our nation's future prosperity. Just last month, the Senate voted to increase the debt limit to $12.4 trillion, and yet here we are again today considering another increase in the debt limit - this time by $1.9 trillion, to $14.3 trillion.
"As bad as that sounds, our nation's debt problem is actually far worse - America also has nearly $60 trillion in unfunded liabilities for programs like Social Security and Medicare. These unfunded liabilities amount to $184,000 per person living in the U.S., or $483,000 per American household. By contrast, median household income is just over $50,000. As David Walker, the former Comptroller General and now President of the Peterson Foundation put it in recent testimony before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, "It doesn't take an economist or mathematician to realize that this is unsustainable."
"Our problem is that government has promised more than our citizens can pay. One columnist described this as the collision between the high and rising demand for government services and the capacity of the economy to produce the tax revenue to pay for those demands.
"Historically, Americans have paid about 18 percent of GDP in federal taxes. But with the explosion in entitlement spending tied to the retirement of the Baby Boom generation, plus interest on the debt, Americans would need to pay taxes equal to 34 percent of GDP to keep pace with spending 25 years from now.
"Even if it were possible to raise taxes in order to finance this rate of spending, that remedy would do tremendous damage to our economy. It would crush job creation, devastate our already-battered small-business community, and dash the aspirations and can-do spirit of our people. Thus, our decision-making must begin by reconsidering spending that, although popular, simply cannot be justified in this fiscal crisis.
"It is wishful thinking to hope that we can simply grow our way out of this problem. Economic growth helps but is itself endangered by the enormous debt. Becoming more efficient and productive helps reduce our long-term financial challenges, but it will not rescue us from the predicament we have created.
"If we fail to stop this approaching tsunami of red ink, then the futures of our children and grandchildren will be irrevocably damaged by our negligence. The American Dream as we know it, where each succeeding generation can achieve a higher standard of success and quality of life, will be over.
"It won't be easy, but we must confront this conflict between what we want and what we can afford. It is time to reassess our national priorities, to make the hard decisions, and to set a new course. The budget reform Commission proposed by the Conrad-Gregg amendment would begin to move us forward as a nation in facing our serious fiscal challenges, and I urge my colleagues to support it."
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