[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 18 (Monday, January 30, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S1758]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        PETITIONS AND MEMORIALS

  The following petitions and memorials were laid before the Senate and 
were referred or ordered to lie on the table as indicated:

       POM-26. A resolution adopted by the House of the 
     Legislature of the State of Alabama; to the Committee on the 
     Judiciary.

                                ``HR 27

       ``Whereas, with each passing year, this nation becomes more 
     deeply in debt as its expenditures grossly and repeatedly 
     exceed available revenues; and
       ``Whereas, as the federal debt grows, the stability of our 
     national and world economy weakens, and the burden placed on 
     future generations of Americans become more onerous; and
       ``Whereas, conjunctively with a required balancing of the 
     federal budget is a necessary prohibition against the 
     imposition of unfunded federal mandates and other cost 
     reallocation to the several states; and
       ``Whereas, believing that fiscal uncertainties at the 
     federal level is the greatest threat that our nation faces, 
     and cognizant that statutory budget balancing remedies have 
     failed, we firmly believe that constitutional restraint is 
     vital to bring the fiscal discipline needed to restore 
     financial responsibility;'' Now therefore be it
       ``Resolved by the House of Representatives of the 
     Legislature of Alabama, That the Legislature urges the United 
     States Congress to adopt an amendment to the United States 
     Constitution which both requires the balancing of the federal 
     budget and prohibits transferring the costs and burdens of 
     federal responsibilities and inclinations to the states by 
     unfunded mandates or similar means.
       ``Be it Further Resolved, that certified copies of this 
     resolution be transmitted to the President of the United 
     States, the President of the United States Senate, the 
     Majority Leader of the United States Senate, the Minority 
     Leader of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the House 
     of Representatives, the Minority Leader of the House of 
     Representatives, and to every member of the State's 
     Congressional Delegation.''
                                                                    ____

       POM-27. A resolution adopted by the Senate of the General 
     Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky; to the Committee on 
     the Judiciary.
                          ``Senate Resolution

       ``Whereas, for far too many years, Congress has recklessly 
     and repeatedly enacted federal budgets in which government 
     expenditures have grossly exceeded available revenues, 
     resulting in unparalleled federal budgetary deficits that 
     unjustly mortgage the future of our nation's children; and
       ``Whereas, Congress has taken far too little action on its 
     own initiative to implement responsible budgetary controls 
     through the reduction or elimination of the need for federal 
     spending for certain governmental programs or the imposition 
     of sufficient tax levies that would generate adequate revenue 
     to fund necessary federal government programs; and
       ``Whereas, Congressional attempts to control the federal 
     budget deficit over the last decade have resulted in shifting 
     the planning, operational, and funding responsibilities for 
     many federally-mandated programs to the states and their 
     local governments, while at the same time reducing federal 
     financial support for those programs; and
       ``Whereas, those short-sighted budget deficit control 
     efforts have forced some states and local governments to 
     reduce budget expenditures for their own necessary programs 
     and to raise taxes to fund the additional financial burden 
     imposed by Congress; and
       ``Whereas, approximately eighty percent of the nation's 
     state legislatures are currently required to enact a balanced 
     state budget, either by their state constitutions, state 
     statutes, or legislative rules, proving that this is a task 
     that can be accomplished by fiscally responsible elected 
     officials; and
       ``Whereas, fiscal restraint imposed by an amendment to the 
     Constitution of the United States of America is necessary to 
     curtail federal spending to conform to available federal 
     revenues; and
       ``Whereas, Article V of the Constitution of the United 
     States of America provides that amendments to the 
     Constitution may be proposed by the Congress for submission 
     to the states for their ratification when two-thirds of both 
     houses deem it necessary;
       ``Now, therefore, be it
       ``Resolved by the Senate of the General Assembly of the 
     Commonwealth of Kentucky:
       ``Section 1. That the Congress of the United States is 
     hereby requested and petitioned to adopt an amendment to the 
     Constitution of the United States of America, for submission 
     to the states for their ratification, requiring that each 
     federal budget enacted by the Congress and signed by the 
     President of the United States be in balance.
       ``Section 2. That, notwithstanding the submission of a 
     balanced budget amendment to the states, each Congress 
     convened prior to the amendment's ratification should make 
     every reasonable effort on its own initiative to enact a 
     balanced federal budget prior to being subject to the 
     amendment's mandate that it do so.
       ``Section 3. That the Congress, in striving to enact a 
     balanced federal budget and to reduce the federal budget 
     deficit, must begin by addressing spending needs and revenue 
     generation possibilities at the federal level and by funding 
     only what the federal government itself can afford instead of 
     unjustly shifting the financial responsibility for continuing 
     federally-mandated programs and services onto the 
     overburdened back of state and local governments.
       ``Section 4. That the Clerk of the Senate is directed to 
     send copies of this resolution to the Clerk of the United 
     States House of Representatives, the Secretary of the United 
     States Senate, and the members of Congress elected from the 
     Commonwealth of Kentucky.''
     

                          ____________________