April 4, 2001 Mr. CONRAD. Isn't it true that while President Clinton had not submitted a full budget, he had submitted sufficient detail so the cost of his budget proposals could be estimated by the Committee on the Budget, the CBO, the Joint Committee on Taxation, and so the Senate, acting in 1993, had all of the reestimates done that told us the cost of his proposal? Mr. BYRD. Yes, absolutely. Mr. CONRAD. And is it not true as well that President Bush has not submitted sufficient detail for the Congressional Budget Office or the Joint Committee on Taxation to do the reestimates that were done on the previous President's budget, so we do not have those reestimates; isn't that true? Mr. BYRD. The Senator is preeminently correct. Mr. CONRAD. I will go on, if I can, when we look at the level of detail that has been provided by President Bush versus President Clinton, there is a very stark and glaring set of differences. For example, the Clinton document had tables that provided year-by-year budget numbers for 68 specific proposals to reduce discretionary spending. The tables also included the year-by-year numbers for 90 specific proposals to cut mandatory spending. The budget also provided year-by-year detail for proposed increases in spending. The Bush budget does not provide any year-by-year numbers for specific proposed changes in discretionary spending; is that not the case? Mr. BYRD. Oh, absolutely; no question about it; absolutely. Mr. CONRAD. So to compare 1993 to this year does not really stack up, does not hold up under much scrutiny because, as the Senator from West Virginia has made so clear, we had full reestimates then of the cost of the President's tax-and-spending proposals, sufficient detail for the Congressional Budget Office and the Joint Committee on Taxation to tell us what those costs were. We do not have it now. And we had a full Budget Committee markup then. We do not have any Budget Committee markup now. The fact is, we do not have sufficient detail from the President to have the kind of objective independent analysis done to inform the Senate of the cost of the President's tax-and-spending proposals. Mr. BYRD. Absolutely. Moreover, that was a budget for 5 years. That was a 5-year plan in 1993. This is a 10-year plan. Additionally, the resolution was used in that instance to reduce deficits, not to increase them. Finally, my good friend from New Mexico speaks of that 1993 budget as a role model. Not one of the Senators on that side of the aisle voted for it. Not one Republican in the House voted for it. What did it do? It put the Nation on the course for reduction of the deficits and for the accumulation of huge projected surpluses. Whether they ever materialize or not is another question. But what are we so afraid of? Why is this Senate afraid to see the President's budget? Mr. CONRAD. We were promised the President's budget, were we not? We were promised it was going to be here on April 2 before we took up a budget resolution on the floor. And presto disto, the next thing we know, there is no budget until April 9 when we have completed action. It is a very unusual circumstance. If we are going to be fair and objective about comparing 1993 to now, we will see there are very significant differences. Most significant, we have had no budget markup in the committee, and there was sufficient detail on what President Clinton sent us that the Congressional Budget Office and the Joint Committee on Taxation were able to give us an objective independent analysis of the cost of the President's spending-and-tax proposals which we do not have here. We do not have them. Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I thank the very able majority leader for his courtesy in calling attention to the inquiry I had previously indicated I wanted to make, and for his listening to it. I am sure he will give some consideration to it. I hope he will. And I hope all Senators will be willing to consider the request to go over until next Tuesday or Wednesday so that we might have the benefit of having the information that is in the President's budget. I am sure it is not very far away. It is probably on the printing presses within three blocks of this Chamber right now. If they plan to have it up here next Monday, it is available somewhere right now. I thank the majority leader for entertaining my request.