[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 4 (Monday, January 9, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H152]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          BALANCING THE BUDGET

  (Mrs. SEASTRAND asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Mrs. SEASTRAND. Mr. Speaker, many of my colleagues on the other side 
of the aisle have been arguing that we must specifically outline how we 
are going to balance the budget before we pass a constitutional 
amendment mandating one. They claim to be supporters of the idea of a 
balanced budget but because in the past they have been unwilling to 
make the tough decisions necessary to balance the budget they assume 
that we are unwilling to as well.
  Unfortunately for them, this House has a new keeper and new 
priorities. Among these new priorities is a balanced budget.
  The simple fact is this: Recent polls indicate that more than 75 
percent of American people support the balanced budget amendment. It is 
the will of the people and Mr. Speaker, this is the people's House. And 
for most of the last 40 years this House has failed them. The balanced 
budget amendment creates a mechanism to accomplish this necessary goal. 
The debate must and will begin after our new priorities have been set.

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