[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 15 (Wednesday, January 25, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H663]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


        NEW REFORMS BRING BADLY NEEDED DISCIPLINE TO GOVERNMENT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from New Jersey [Mr. LoBiondo] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. LoBIONDO. Mr. Speaker, we joined together just a few short weeks 
ago in an initial gift, really, I think, to the citizens of this 
country by in a bipartisan way coming together to vote on the 
Congressional Accountability Act. I believe that that can set the stage 
for the endeavor that we are now embarking on, which would allow us to 
give another gift to the American people, that of a balanced budget 
amendment.
  Mr. Speaker, my district, the southern part of New Jersey, is rural 
and agricultural. We have many small businesses. I try to get around to 
the fire halls, the church halls, for the barbecues, for the 
breakfasts, to listen to people, to look in their eyes, and to be able 
to hear what their concerns are.
  What they have told me is that they do not understand why Congress 
does not live in the real world the way they do. They tell me that they 
live with a balanced budget amendment of their own. They cannot spend 
more than they take in, not for very long, whether they are individuals 
or whether they are businesses. They have to live with that discipline.
  I come from a small business background. I know what it is like to be 
able to put that dynamic together, that dynamic that seems to be 
missing from Government, something that is obvious, I think, to all of 
us in this body and to all of America, that we desperately need: We 
desperately need that discipline.
  Now, finally, or once again, I should say, we have an opportunity. We 
have a great opportunity to be able to give that gift to the American 
people.
  I have a little bit of background as a State legislator from the 
great State of New Jersey. We live with a balanced budget in the State 
of New Jersey and it works.

                              {time}  2020

  Yes, very often there are some tough decisions that have to be made. 
There are some tough choices. But that is what life is all about. And 
America has to make some tough choices. But I think this choice is 
relatively simple, and I would like to see us join together in a 
bipartisan fashion to be able to present this to the American people, 
something I believe they feel is long overdue that would bring Congress 
back into the real world that they live in.

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