[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 15 (Wednesday, January 25, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H660]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      VOTE FOR THE BARTON VERSION OF THE BALANCED BUDGET AMENDMENT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from South Carolina [Mr. Graham] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GRAHAM. Mr. Speaker, last November the people of the 3rd District 
of South Carolina sent me to Washington in hopes of changing the 
direction of the country. My constituents expect me to display courage 
in making tough decisions. I will not let them down. I will vote for 
the balanced budget amendment, the Barton version, with a tax 
limitation provision. Now I am going to put my speech up.
  There has been a lot of talk tonight about what the consequences of a 
balanced budget would mean to different groups in this country. There 
is one thing I think we have in common, whether you are young or old, 
black or white, rich or poor. If we don't do it, it is a bad deal for 
everybody.
  The thing that I think has been overlooked that I would like to 
comment on for a minute or two is what does it mean when you are $4.5 
trillion-plus in debt? The honest answer is I cannot even imagine that 
money in real terms. The real serious consequences of
 spending that much money more than you have is that over time you ruin 
the character of your people. Over time, everybody in the country 
begins to look to the Federal Government to solve every problem they 
have.

  I am 39 years of age, and I would say that my generation always looks 
outward instead of inward; that there is somebody to blame, there is 
some Federal program, some State program, to make it right.
  When you can be everything to everybody, in my opinion, eventually 
you will ruin everybody. The only way I know to change things, after a 
lot of thought and a lot of debate and a lot of reasoning, is to change 
the Constitution. Whether you are Republican or Democrat, I do not 
trust you enough to come sit in this body and spend money without a bad 
check law. And that is called the constitutional balanced budget 
amendment.
  Whether you are a Republican or Democrat, I don't trust you enough to 
come into this body and balance the budget without raising taxes to do 
it. That is way I will vote for the three-fifths provision requiring a 
supermajority not to raise taxes.
  There is a lot at stake in this debate, and to me the real issue is: 
Are we going to try to be everything to everybody and ruin the next 
generation not yet born? Everybody talks about putting them in debt, 
but are we requesting to create a society where they look always 
outward and never inward?
  There is a lot at stake, and I can't tell you exactly how we are 
going to balance the budget. I don't have a plan that, as some people 
from the Democrat Party will point out, that tells you exactly how we 
are going to get there. I just know we must. I know there are a lot of 
people in this building working on those plans, and I want to give them 
a shot. The consequences of not doing it is to continue to have a debt 
that goes beyond imagination.
  I hope we will have the courage to say no to ourselves by a 
constitutional balanced budget amendment, and I hope we have the 
courage to cut spending and say no to a lot of people who have never 
been said no to by the Federal Government. If we don't start now, when 
will we start?
  We are about to go into the 21st century, and I think the character 
of the American people has changed in the last 20 or 30 years, in many 
ways for the worse. And if you want to look at the reasons why, I think 
you can start here at the Federal Government. We have taken every 
function of our lives and centralized it in Washington, DC. If you want 
to change this country, change the way you spend money in this country.
  Anybody have any questions?
  I can't think of anything more important to talk about, and I am 
tired of talking about it. I have been here about 10 days now. I am a 
freshman in this body. I know why I got elected. I feel very frustrated 
not being able to get on with it.

                              {time}  2000

  I know Members on the other side and within my party have 
differences, and I respect their differences. I want them to have a 
chance to say what is on their mind and to advocate their side, but 
more than anything else, I want us to start voting in this body.
  President Clinton made a speech last night, some of its sounded 
really good. I have heard a lot of great speeches in my small term of 
politics. Maybe I made a few that sounded pretty good. I am tired of 
you having to rely on what Lindsey Graham says, or Bill Clinton or 
anybody else in this body. I want us to vote and I want us to take 
tough votes.
  The only hope we have of, in my opinion, changing this country is to 
take the balanced budget amendment that the gentleman from Texas [Mr. 
Barton] has proposed with the tax limitation bill provision in it, get 
it out of the Committee of the Whole and make us take tough votes and 
see who really is serious about changing the course of this country.
  I will never disagree or take issue with somebody who is voting their 
conscience. I just expect you to do that. I expect no less of myself.


                          ____________________