THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, March 3, 1995 TAG: 9503030441
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A2 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: Short : 34 lines
Virginia Sens. Charles S. Robb and John Warner voted for the
balanced-budget amendment.
North Carolina Sens. Jesse A. Helms and Lauch Faircloth also
voted for the amendment.
Warner, a Republican, co-signed a letter with other GOP senators
attributing its defeat to ``a handful of liberal Democrats . . .
attempting to thwart the will of the American people.''
We will support every effort to keep the balanced budget
amendment alive even if it means stopping the government in its
tracks,'' they wrote.
Robb, a Democrat, said he voted for the amendment ``not because I
believe it's a cure-all for our budget woes'' but because it would
have brought ``a discipline to our fiscal process that has been
sadly lacking.''
Robb took issue with critics who said the amendment would have
endangered Social Security. ``The threat to Social Security is not
the balanced budget amendment,'' he said. ``The threat is the
growing debt and interest payments that will squeeze out important
programs like Social Security. If we don't make changes, Social
Security will be insolvent in 30 years.''
by CNB