[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 11 (Thursday, January 19, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H371-H372]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
URGING SUPPORT FOR HOUSE RESOLUTION 28, A BIPARTISAN BALANCED BUDGET
AMENDMENT
(Mr. DOYLE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
Mr. DOYLE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the only bipartisan,
bicameral balanced budget amendment. I speak of House Resolution 28
which I am cosponsoring because I believe we cannot wait any longer to
address this country's budget deficit. It was in March of last year,
when I was simply a candidate for Congress, that this House last voted
on a balanced budget amendment. The amendment failed then, but the
deficit has not stopped growing. In fact, the national debt has
increased by more than $160 billion since last March. Gross interest
payments alone are costing us $315 million per day. Until we bring this
problem under control these interest payments will continue to
skyrocket, devouring larger and larger portions of the budget. This
process has a devastating regressive effect on the rest of the budget
because it severely hampers our ability [[Page H372]] to fund important
discretionary programs.
Our interest payments this year alone will be 8 times higher than
expenditures on education and 50 times higher than expenditures on job
training. We cannot exacerbate this situation any further or we will
completely cripple countless generations to come. For this reason, I
urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support the bipartisan
balanced budget amendment, House Resolution 28.
____________________