From the Office of Senator Kerry

Thursday, March 25, 1999

Washington, D.C. -- U.S. Senator John F. Kerry (D-MA) today offered an amendment to the Senate budget resolution that would prohibit a return to deficit spending to pay for any tax cuts included in the 1999 budget. The amendment failed to pass the Senate on a party-line vote.

Senators Frank Launtenberg (D-NJ), ranking Democrat on the Senate Budget Committee, "Fritz" Hollings (D-SC), Kent Conrad (N-ND), Jack Reed (D-RI), and Bob Kerrey (D-MO) co-sponsored the amendment.

"This amendment safeguards that we do not return to the misguided era of runaway deficit spending. These fiscal spending choices are never easy, but they are the right choices," said Kerry. "This kind of fiscal discipline has built the foundation for these past six years of economic expansion and must continue if we are to keep our economy strong well into the next century."

"Without this important safeguard, the tax breaks of today may jeopardize the future of our national priorities, such as education, and health care programs."

The Kerry amendment would defer any tax cuts enacted by Congress on a year-by-year basis if anticipated federal budget surpluses fail to materialize. This determination would be made under the current budget scoring of the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office.

However, once a tax provision became effective, it would not be reconsidered, regardless of changes in the budget surplus.

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