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CONCORD COALITION ECONOMIC PATRIOT AWARD DINNER

Senator Olympia J. Snowe (R-ME)

November 6, 2003

It is with deep regret that I am unable to join with this distinguished group here tonight for the Concord Coalition's annual Economic Patriots Dinner. However, roll call votes are being held today in the Senate in an effort to wrap up the session for the year and, Warren, I know you and Bob Kerrey understand what that's like! I'm certain it makes you nostalgic, doesn't it!

I assure you I was looking forward to personally being in New York to accept your 2003 Paul E. Tsongas Economic Patriot Award - as well as to share in the company of such an array of thoughtful, forward-looking, reasonable-minded individuals... not that Washington isn't just brimming with such people these days!

Warren, I appreciate your willingness to share my thoughts this evening – and to convey how deeply honored I am to receive the Concord Coalition's Patriot Award. To be accorded this recognition by an organization that, since 1992, has relentlessly served as a well-respected megaphone for bipartisan, sound economic and budget policies - leaves me profoundly grateful. And I want to commend Senator Warren Rudman...Senator Bob Kerrey...and Secretary Pete Peterson for their exceptional leadership.

As you all know, fiscal responsibility isn't just an economic issue. It is, above all else, a moral issue - because, as the saying goes, our greatest obligation in life is to plant trees under whose shade we never expect to sit. Yet, regrettably, we are in serious danger of instead building mountains of debt under which we may not suffer, but future generations will. Are we going to deny that this debt represents the most unfair tax ever imposed – where future generations that will be forced to pay, have no say...no voice...and no vote?

I don't have to tell anyone in this audience why that's wrong - and I just want to reassure you there are some of us in Washington who still believe deficits do matter! That's been a mantra for me since I first ran for Congress back in 1978 - and I've been a proud veteran of the budget wars ever since. So when the economic growth package was presented earlier this year, unfortunately I was burdened by about a quarter century record of fighting federal deficits - and I don't know about you, but I believe consistency is not the "hobgoblin of small minds"!

While I agreed we were absolutely right to forge a robust short-term growth package, I pledged not to support any measures that would contribute to the deficit above the $350 billion in effective, fast-acting stimulus - not while we were confronted with a confluence of realities conspiring to bolster our deficits - lingering economic uncertainties...our global war on terrorism...Afghanistan...and our engagement in Iraq. I believed my actions were reflecting traditional Republican ideals. Given that, as the President said, many challenges at home and abroad had arrived in a single season...and given the gathering clouds over Social Security and Medicare - how could we countenance burgeoning deficits in perpetuity?

Just two and a half years ago, the Congressional Budget Office was projecting surpluses "as far as the eye can see" - about $5.6 trillion through 2011. Remember those days... when the paralyzing concern was, what happens if we retire the entire federal debt? In fact, those surpluses in this decade were supposed to be our window of opportunity to strengthen Social Security and Medicare. Now, we're setting records with a $374 billion deficit for FY03...next year's projected deficit is nearly $500 billion...and if that's not enough, a decade from now the federal government will owe Social Security about $4 trillion - just before that ominous Gray Dawn of which Pete Peterson writes so powerfully.

So it was regrettable that, in the end, Congress passed a trillion dollar tax cut masquerading as a $350 billion reduction, given the series of artificial "sunsets" it included. And the deficit outlook might be even worse if our effort on the stimulus package hadn't re-introduced the concept of offsets into our "budget theology" - something you'd think would be standard operating procedure but you'd be making the mistake of applying logic!

My concern looking forward is, given the "scourge of confrontation" that has descended upon Washington, precisely how and when will we muster the collective will to act, knowing that, once we're actually on top of the iceberg it's too late to turn? How will we change the political dynamic?

Indeed, the issue of our budgets and deficits is the very manifestation of ideologies clashing. It's as though the factions have retired to their respective "dogmatic camps" - the camp that favors increasing taxes so we can also increase spending...or the camp that favors cutting taxes to - in the words of a recent New York Times article - effectively "starve" the perceived "beast" of government. And in all corners, rationales are tailored to the requirements of the "dogma de jour". Now, we're told, that the 2003 deficit is lower than projected deficits...that these deficits are still below the historic peaks of the 80's and 90's relative to GDP... that we will grow our way out of deficits... or that the public debt will remain small relative to the size of the economy.

And let there be no mistake - the absolutism of the "all or nothing" approach knows no political labels or boundaries. And it is fostering a dysfunctional process that creates soundbites rather than solutions - ironically at a time when more Americans consider themselves "moderate" than either liberal or conservative ...and at a pivotal juncture where bipartisanship is what is required for the right decisions to be made in Congress.

In remarks I made to the Kennedy School of Government in 1997, I asked the central question, can we govern? Because it often seems we live in a time when the campaigning never stops, and the governing never begins. Of course, politics will always be part of the process. There have always been issues raised to shape policy, and issues raised to advance political agendas.

But the fact is, there are fewer moderates in Congress today to create that "critical mass" to foster the free-market competition among ideas - and a willingness to sift through those ideas - that is integral to addressing the problems the American people expect us to resolve. We've lost people willing to "cross the lines" like Warren Rudman...Alan Simpson...John Chafee...Sam Nunn...Nancy Kassebaum... Bill Cohen and Bob Kerrey who helped found the Centrist Coalition in 1995 with John Chafee in the wake of the government shutdown. Fortunately, the Coalition exists today and I am pleased to be its co-chair along with Senator John Breaux so that at the very least we continue to have a forum through which constructive compromise could be possible.

Because, in the end, bipartisanship remains the only measure of hope for recording great accomplishments in the future. Today, a spirit of accomplishment must be summoned forth from beneath the smothering shroud of perpetual partisanship. I'm convinced there are still enough of us in Congress that - together with a call to arms from groups like yours and an American electorate yearning for results - we can rekindle the flame of bipartisan achievement. We must strive to do no less. For it is only through a groundswell of recognition that there is strength in compromise, courage in conciliation, and honor in consensus building that we will leave a legacy of responsible stewardship for the generations to follow.

I thank the Concord Coalition for helping to make that possible, and again, thank you all for this tremendous honor.