[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 8 (Tuesday, January 28, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S759-S768]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. SHELBY:
  S.J. Res. 13. A joint resolution proposing an amendment to the 
Constitution of the United States which requires--except during time of 
war and subject to suspension by the Congress--that the total amount of 
money expended by the United States during any fiscal year not exceed 
the amount of certain revenue received by the United States during such 
fiscal year and not exceed 20 per centum of the gross national product 
of the United States during the previous calendar year; to the 
Committee on the Judiciary.


             balanced budget amendment to the constitution

  Mr. SHELBY. Mr. President, today I am introducing a balanced budget 
amendment to the Constitution. This is the same amendment which I have 
introduced in every Congress since the 97th Congress. Over the past 20 
years, I have devoted much time and attention to promoting this idea 
because I believe that the single most important thing the Federal 
Government could do to enhance the lives of all Americans and future 
generations is to balance the Federal budget.
  Mr. President, Alexander Hamilton once wrote that ``* * * there is a 
general propensity in those who govern, founded in the constitution of 
man, to shift off the burden from the present to a future day.* * *''
  History has proven Hamilton correct. We have seen over the past 27 
years, that deficit spending has become a permanent way of life in 
Washington. During the past three decades, we have witnessed countless 
``budget summits'' and ``bipartisan budget deals,'' and we have heard, 
time and again, the promises of ``deficit reduction.'' But despite all 
of these charades, the Federal budget has never been balanced, and it 
remains severely out of balance today. The truth is, Mr. President, it 
will never be balanced as long as the President and the Congress are 
allowed to shortchange the welfare of future generations to pay for 
current consumption.
  A balanced budget amendment to the Constitution is the only way 
possible to break the cycle of deficit spending and ensure that the 
Government does not continue to saddle our children and grandchildren 
with this generation's debts.
  Mr. President, everyone in America would benefit from a balanced 
Federal budget. The Congressional Budget Office has stated that a 
balanced Federal budget would lower interest rates by up to 2 full 
percentage points. That would save the average American family with a 
$75,000 mortgage on their home, about $2,400 per year. It would save 
the average student with an $11,000 student loan about $1,900. That is 
real money put in the pockets of hard-working Americans, simply by the 
Government balancing its books.
  Moreover, if the Government demand for capital was reduced, that 
would increase the private sector's access to capital, which in turn, 
would generate substantial economic growth and create thousands of new 
jobs.
  On the other hand, without a balanced budget amendment, the 
Government will continue to waste the taxpayers' money on unnecessary 
interest payments. In fiscal year 1996, the Federal Government spent 
about $241 billion just to pay the interest on the national debt. That 
is more than double the amount spent on all education, job training, 
crime, and transportation programs combined.
  Mr. President, we might as well be taking these hard-earned tax 
dollars and pouring them down a rat hole. We could be putting this 
money toward improving education, developing new medical technologies, 
finding a cure for cancer, or even returning it to the people who 
earned it in the first place. But

[[Page S768]]

instead, about 15 percent of the Federal budget is being wasted on 
interest payments because advocates of big government continue to block 
all efforts to balance the budget.
  Mr. President, a balanced budget amendment will change all of that. 
It will put us on the path to begin paying off our national debt, which 
is currently more than $5 trillion. This amendment will help ensure 
that taxpayers' money will not continue to be wasted on interest 
payments.
  Opponents of a balanced budget amendment act like it is something 
extraordinary. Mr. President, a balanced budget amendment will only 
require the Government to do what every American already has to do: 
balance their checkbook. It is simply a promise to the American people 
that the Government will act responsibly.
  Mr. President, we do not need any more budget deals. We do not need 
any more ``bipartisan'' summits resulting in huge tax increases. What 
we need is a hammer to force the Congress and the President to agree on 
a balanced budget, not just for this year, but forever. Mr. President, 
a constitutional amendment to balance the budget is the only such 
mechanism available.

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