[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 32 (Tuesday, February 21, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E392]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page E392]]
                  CONGRESS ON ROAD TO BALANCING BUDGET

                                 ______


                            HON. RANDY TATE

                             of washington

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 21, 1995
  Mr. TATE. Mr. Speaker, at the beginning of each month, my wife and I 
sit down together and balance our family budget. Balancing a budget is 
something that all American businesses and families must do. It's time 
Congress follows the lead of its citizens.
  Congress has the ability to balance the budget. It simply hasn't had 
the will. Only once in the last 30 years has the Federal Government had 
the backbone to balance the budget.
  The tax limitation balanced budget amendment, introduced by 
Representative Joe Barton, Republican from Texas, House Judiciary 
Committee Chairman Henry Hyde, Republican from Illinois, and me, is 
exactly the tool needed. The tax limitation balanced budget amendment 
is the change in the way Government does business that the American 
people have demanded.
  Our balanced budget amendment requires a three-fifths majority vote 
to raise taxes, borrow money, or add to the deficit.
  If a three-fifths vote had been required during the 103d Congress, 
the Clinton budget, which contained one of the largest tax increases in 
history, would not have passed. Instead, it passed by 1 vote leaving 
another Congress that took more of your money and still didn't balance 
the budget.
  On the historic first day of the 104th Congress, the House 
overwhelmingly passed a rule that requires a three-fifths majority vote 
to increase income tax rates. We need that same strong, bipartisan 
support in order to pass this needed constitutional amendment.
  If we are sincere about shrinking the size and scope of our Federal 
Government, as the people asked us to do last November, then we must 
pass the tax limitation balanced budget amendment.
  The national debt is over $4.5 trillion. Your share exceeds $13,000. 
To save future generations, this reckless accumulation of debt must 
stop.
  The tax limitation balanced budget amendment is not a quick fix to 
our financial problems. Instead, it is a bold and needed measure that 
will restore fiscal sanity and discipline to a free-spending Congress.
  This is the highest priority of the new Republican House majority. We 
must make it harder for Congress to dip into your wallet, not easier. 
By requiring a three-fifths majority vote, Congress will be forced to 
cut spending before reaching into your pockets and raising your taxes 
first.
  There are cries from some who say that a constitutional amendment is 
not needed--that fiscal discipline alone can balance our budget.
  Wrong.
  The tired policies of the past have failed before and will fail 
again. It is time to make Congress accountable to the people we serve.
  There is nothing terrible about asking the Federal Government to live 
within its means.
  But there are some that are still opposed to fiscal responsibility 
and reduced spending. Sunday, Secretary of Labor Robert Reich said on 
``Meet the Press'' that the President is ``against simply balancing the 
budget,'' and that the goal of a balanced budget was not his goal. Even 
after the voters have demanded spending cuts and fiscal responsibility, 
the Clinton administration seems content to spend more money it doesn't 
have--a luxury that American families can't afford.
  Americans are demanding that we shrink Government and act 
responsibly. Many are shocked to see opposition to such a commonsense 
solution as our amendment. We will fight against those special 
interests that insist on the status quo.
  If 49 States can operate under balanced budget requirements, so can 
Congress.
  The answer to our Nation's problems is not spending more money and 
raising taxes. The answer is a tax limitation balanced budget amendment 
that will force Congress to make the same tough choices you and your 
family make every day.


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