[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 150 (Wednesday, November 17, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7923-S7924]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       BALANCED BUDGET AMENDMENT

  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I want to briefly draw attention to a 
resolution that the conference of Republican Senators and Senators-
elect adopted yesterday, one that I think fits the times we are living 
in, one which has seen historic levels of Federal spending and debt and 
deficits, as well as unsustainable debt that will be inherited by our 
children and grandchildren, unless we take responsibility for it.
  This resolution, I think, would demonstrate the seriousness that we 
would have as a Congress to get our Nation's fiscal house in order. 
This resolution reads:

       It is Resolved by the United States Senate Republican 
     conference:
       That a Balanced Budget Amendment to the United States 
     Constitution is necessary to restore fiscal discipline to our 
     Republic;
       That a Balanced Budget Amendment should require the 
     President to submit to Congress a proposed budget prior to 
     each fiscal year in which total federal spending does not 
     exceed total federal revenue;
       That a Balanced Budget Amendment should include a 
     requirement that a supermajority of both houses of Congress 
     be necessary to increase taxes;
       That a Balanced Budget Amendment should include a 
     limitation on total federal spending.

  I thank the 20 Republican Senators and Senators-elect who cosponsored 
this resolution and the members of the conference who voted to adopt 
it. Let me share with you a few factoids that I think will demonstrate 
the compelling nature of this joint resolution and constitutional 
amendment.
  In fiscal year 2010, our deficit was $1.3 trillion or 8.9 percent of 
the gross domestic product. That is actually down from 9.9 percent in 
fiscal year 2009, but certainly nothing to celebrate. The Congressional 
Budget Office baseline estimates that Federal deficits will average 
$605 billion each year through 2020, and the budget that the President 
submitted to us this year, itself, if implemented, would call for an 
average of $1 trillion of deficit each year for the next 10 years.
  We know that the Budget Act passed by Congress, signed by the 
President, requires the President of the United States to submit his 
budget by the first Monday in February. I can tell you that I am 
anxiously awaiting to see in that budget proposal submitted by the 
President by the first Monday in February his commitment to fiscal 
discipline--now particularly since the American people have spoken so 
loudly and clearly about their concerns over reckless spending and 
endless debt.
  We know a balanced budget amendment actually works, because virtually 
every State in the Nation has one, including my State of Texas. Only 
the Federal Government has no requirement of a balanced budget and can 
spend huge deficits and borrow money it does not have. No family in 
America, or small business, when income goes down, can continue to 
spend at the same level. They have to live within their means. So 
should the U.S. Government.
  We also know that a balanced budget amendment is popular with the 
public. A recent referendum held by Florida voters showed that 71 
percent approved a nonbinding resolution supporting a balanced budget 
amendment. We have had votes in the Senate on this not that long ago. I 
believe it was in 1997, so I will let you judge whether it was long 
ago. Sixty-six Senators at the time voted in favor of a balanced budget 
amendment or 1 shy of the two-thirds necessary, including 11 colleagues 
on the other side of the aisle, demonstrating the bipartisan support 
for a balanced budget amendment.
  It is important to note that at that time, when 66 Senators voted on 
a bipartisan basis for a balanced budget amendment, the deficit was 
only 1.4 percent of GDP. Today, it is 8.9 percent. I think if a 
balanced budget amendment was a good idea--at least in the minds of 66 
Senators--in 1997, it is even a better idea today. So I hope colleagues 
on both sides of the aisle will join with me to offer ideas on drafting 
this joint resolution.
  Of course, as you know, under Article V of the Constitution of the 
United States, a constitutional amendment can emanate from Congress 
itself with a two-thirds vote or it can be the result of a 
constitutional convention. Under either circumstance, three-quarters of 
the States would be necessary to ratify it. I think if Republicans and 
Democrats can listen to the voice of the American people and get behind 
a joint resolution, it will restore some of the public's lost 
confidence in our ability and our willingness both to heed their voice 
and also live up to our responsibility.
  I think a balanced budget amendment would be a big step forward in 
the cause of fiscal discipline but, of course, not the only step. As 
the cochairs of the President's debt commission have already indicated, 
we need other measures. One that caught my eye they called a ``cut and 
invest committee,'' charged with trimming waste and targeting 
investment. They noticed a good example at the State level, in my State 
of Texas, where we have a sunset commission that requires, every 10 
years, every State agency to go through a process to determine whether 
the programs and the agency itself continue to have good reason to 
exist at the spending levels authorized.
  We need something such as that, which will provide a tremendous 
ability for us to have additional tools to contain costs and avoid 
wasteful spending. To that end, I have put forth a model of the bill of 
the Texas sunset commission, called the United States Authorization and 
Sunset Commission Act. I urge my colleagues to take a look at that, and 
I can assure you that, come January, when we have a new Congress, I 
will offer that legislation.
  I yield the floor.

[[Page S7924]]

  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Maryland is 
recognized.

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