[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 21 (Thursday, February 2, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E253]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


       PROPOSING A BALANCED BUDGET AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION

                                 ______


                               speech of

                      HON. BLANCHE LAMBERT LINCOLN

                              of arkansas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, January 26, 1995

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the joint resolution (H.J. 
     Res. 1) proposing a balanced budget amendment to the 
     Constitution of the United States:

  Mrs. LINCOLN. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of the Stenholm 
balanced budget amendment of which I am a cosponsor. As I was 
recovering from back surgery last week, I sat at home watching the 
House debate legislation on C-SPAN and I saw the legislative process 
through the eyes of our constituents.
  It's no great secret that Democrats and Republicans have differing 
views on many issues, but what is scarcely known is that we share many 
common goals as well. That message all too often gets lost in the 
confusion over parliamentary procedure that America sees at home. My 
colleague Charles Stenholm and other Democrats have been working to 
pass a balanced budget amendment for years. I was proud to begin 
working with these conservative Democrats on a balanced budget 
amendment during my first year in Congress. Democrats like Mr. Stenholm 
and Republicans like Mr. Barton have risen above partisanship in 
bringing the balanced budget amendment to the forefront of political 
debate.
  This week we are being given the chance to build on the efforts of 
Mr. Stenholm and Mr. Barton by cooperating to eliminate one of the 
largest threats to the continued prosperity of our country--the 
deficit. A majority composed of both Democrats and Republicans now 
believes that a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced budget is 
the right choice for taking our country into the 21st century with the 
guarantee of permanent fiscal responsibility. The question seems to be 
how to do it. I simply ask that you don't get lost in all the speeches 
that you hear on the floor this week. We must not get so caught up in 
the debate over how to balance the budget that we let the balanced 
budget itself slip away.
  Past Congresses have proven they lack the will to balance the budget. 
A balanced budget amendment will provide the constitutional mandate 
that will ensure that future Congresses make balanced budgets the rule 
rather than the exception. But we can't forget that passing a balanced 
budget amendment will only be the foundation on which we must build a 
fiscally responsible Government. The real work will come later when we 
vote on spending cuts and reductions in the size of Government that 
will be necessary to eliminate the deficit. Again, I urge my colleagues 
to support the balanced budget amendment and to dedicate themselves to 
making the tough decisions that will be necessary to eliminate our 
deficit.


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