[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 14 (Tuesday, January 24, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H539-H540]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               IN SUPPORT OF A BALANCED BUDGET AMENDMENT

  Mr. VISCLOSKY. Mr. Speaker, I do not believe that the President and 
the Congress will find the collective courage necessary to balance the 
budget without a constitutional imperative. I, therefore, rise today in 
support of the Stenholm-Schaefer balanced budget amendment to the U.S. 
Constitution because I have run out of patience.
  America has always been the land of opportunity. The assumption of a 
better life for each generation was one of the defining characteristics 
of our Nation. Throughout our history, people just like my grandparents 
have come here to build a better life for themselves and their 
children. Each generation's hard work paves the way so those who follow 
could travel farther down the road of prosperity.
  Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, in recent decades the economic policies 
of this country have caused us to lose our way. We have borrowed to 
achieve a false sense of prosperity today, leaving the bills for our 
children to pay tomorrow.
  In 1992, our Government spent $290 billion more than it had. This 
means that in 1992 alone, $1,150 was borrowed from every single person 
in America. Over the past 20 years, the average budget deficit has 
grown from $36 billion in the seventies to $156 billion in the 
eighties, to the unprecedented $248 billion hole we have dug for 
ourselves in the 1990's.
  This hole, our debt, is a money pit where we throw taxpayers' 
dollars. In fact, interest payments on the national debt, which is the 
accumulation of our deficits, now surpass the annual deficit. During 
the current fiscal year, the projected deficit of $176 billion will be 
significantly less than the $213 billion we must pay in interest. In 
other words, we are taking in more than enough money to pay for all the 
programs and activities of the Federal Government. We just do not have 
enough money to pay off our previous bills.
  Previous budget deficits soak up our private savings and eat away at 
our economic well-being, resulting in reduced wage rates and fewer 
jobs, often hitting the highly paid manufacturing sector the hardest.
  Economics professor Benjamin Friedman writes:

       At the deepest level, an economic policy that artificially 
     boosts consumption at the expense of investment, dissipates 
     assets, and runs up debt, flies
      in the face of essential moral values that have always 
     motivated each generation's sense of obligation to those 
     that follow. We are enjoying what appears to be a higher, 
     more stable standard of living by selling our children's 
     economic birthright.

  I am absolutely convinced that the best thing we can do for today's 
men and women and for their children is to begin balancing the budget 
now. In the past I have steadfastly opposed amending the Constitution 
for this purpose, because it has always been within our power to 
balance the budget without a constitutional mandate. However, the trend 
of increasing budget deficits has demonstrated three administrations' 
and Congress' lack of resolve to make the tough decisions required to 
achieve a balanced budget.
  The rhetoric I hear today does nothing to convince me that we will 
change our buy-now-and-pay-later ways. Many talk about balancing the 
budget, while also calling for increased defense spending and lower 
taxes. These are the same misguided economic policies that tripled our 
national debt during the past 12 years. Republican George Bush called 
it voodoo economics. Sadly, a constitutional amendment may be the only 
way to force us to re-examine our priorities, to balance the budget, 
and cease mortgaging our Nation's future.
  In 1798 Thomas Jefferson said that if he could add one amendment to 
the Constitution, it would be to prohibit the Federal Government from 
borrowing money.
  In a 1992 congressional hearing, Lawrence Tribe said:

       The Jeffersonian notion that today's populace should not be 
     able to burden future generations with excessive debt, does 
     seem to be the kind of fundamental value that is worthy of 
     enshrinement in the Constitution.

  Since I was elected to Congress, we have asked young men and women to 
give their lives to defend the ideals of our country. Compared to this, 
I do not 
[[Page H540]] believe that asking the people of our Nation to receive 
just a little bit less of an increase in the Government payments they 
receive is to great a sacrifice to guarantee the future of our country. 
The time has come to enshrine the fundamental value of a balanced 
budget in the Constitution, and to distribute short-term sacrifice 
fairly and equitably among Americans of all ages.
  We must remember, however, that voting for a balanced budget 
amendment is the easy part. The amendment has overwhelming public 
support, and simply voting yes puts each of us on the right side of 
public opinion without having to make the tough choices that will put 
the budget into balance.
  It would be a cruel hoax on the American people to pass a balanced 
budget amendment without beginning to actually balance the budget now. 
If we start our work today, the impact will be less painful and our 
decisions less difficult than if we continue to postpone tough 
decisions.


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