[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 14 (Thursday, February 6, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H352]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    THE NEED FOR CONGRESS TO PASS A BALANCED BUDGET CONSTITUTIONAL 
                               AMENDMENT

  (Mr. GOODLATTE asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I would like to speak today on the need 
for Congress to pass a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution. 
It has been 28 years since we last had a balanced budget. Since that 
time out-of-control deficit spending has brought us to a current 
national debt level of $5.3 trillion. This is simply unacceptable.
  The Federal Government has clearly forgotten a basic and fundamental 
fact, the money it spends belongs to the people. It is not our money to 
spend. It is the American people's to keep. And when the Government 
spends money that it does not have, it violates the people's sacred 
trust.
  That is what has been happening for the last 28 years.
  We can talk about the need to balance the budget as the President did 
2 nights ago, but let us be honest. Until Congress passes and the 
States ratify a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution, annual 
balanced budgets will not become a reality.
  Consider the fact that a child born today will spend almost $200,000 
in taxes just to pay the interest on the debt. That is money that could 
be spent on roads, schools, or parks. Our failure to balance the budget 
is robbing our children and grandchildren of the opportunity and 
prosperity they deserve.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support a balanced budget 
amendment.

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