[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 168 (Thursday, December 27, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8449-S8451]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
BALANCED BUDGET
Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I rise today to discuss our Nation's
need to adopt a balanced budget amendment and to bring the Senate's
attention to the Alabama Legislature's recent call for Congress to send
such an amendment to the States for ratification. This is a thoughtful
and well-reasoned resolution. Many other States have made similar
resolutions. Our Nation is on the precipice of the most predictable
fiscal disaster in our history and Congress has failed to act to remove
the danger. U.S. gross Federal debt is now over $16.3 trillion; U.S.
debt per person is over $53,000, higher than that of Greece; and for
the fourth straight year, our Nation's deficit will exceed $1 trillion.
The Federal Government cannot continue spending more than it takes in,
and the people of Alabama clearly know that.
The American people understand the necessity of living within one's
means and balancing budgets. We see that as American families across
the Nation are working to pay off their debt. In fact, American
families have improved their balance sheets by reducing their
outstanding credit card debt by 17 percent since 2008, over $150
billion. The people expect no less of their State governments. Forty-
three of the 50 States, including my home State of Alabama, have
balanced budget requirements.
Unfortunately, as States and families across the Nation cut spending
and balance budgets, the Federal Government continues to spend more and
has increased its debt by more than $4 trillion since 2008. This
spending course will at some point wreck our economy, just as it has
wrecked that of Greece, Spain, and Italy. Now, more than ever, it is
crucial that Congress adopt a balanced budget amendment and send it to
the States for ratification. The surging debt crisis we face is so
significant that we must have a balanced budget constitutional
amendment. It has come close to passing before. When Senators and
Congressmen have no alternative but to live within their means, like so
many of our States, they will figure out a way to do it. But if
Congress is not required by the Constitution to
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budget responsibly, then history has shown that Congress will not act
responsibly.
The people of Alabama understand these issues and the importance of
balancing the budget. That is why the Alabama State Legislature has
passed a resolution urging Congress to send a balanced budget amendment
to the States for ratification. The people of Alabama are well aware of
the dangers we face. Introduced by Senator Arthur Orr of Decatur, AL,
with several of his colleagues in the legislature, this resolution
acknowledges that ``the budget deficits of the United States of America
are unsustainable and constitute substantial threat to the United
States government.'' The resolution calls for Congress to pass a
balanced budget amendment, and if the Congress fails to do so, then for
Congress to call a constitutional convention to propose such an
amendment. I applaud Senator Orr and his colleagues, Senators Scofield,
Sanford, Holtzclaw, Williams, McGill, and Beason, for bringing
attention to this issue and introducing this resolution. We will only
see more grassroots movements like this to pass a balanced budget
amendment if Washington continues to fail to meet the challenges of our
time.
It is not just my constituents in Alabama who are upset. Recent
polling has shown that this Congress has one of the lowest approval
ratings in history. The American people are becoming disillusioned and
losing faith in their elected government as we fail to address the
crises of our day. Indeed, we are not even working openly to deal with
this great challenge. It is sad that Congress cannot even perform its
basic business, as seen in the failure of the Senate to pass one
regular appropriations bill this year or a budget in nearly 4 years.
The Senate is supposed to be the world's great deliberative body.
Unfortunately, the leader of this body and his majority party will not
even propose a budget to the American people. When I came to the Senate
in 1997, I voted for a balanced budget amendment that fell one vote
short of the 67 it required for adoption. How much better off would we
have been today, how much less debt would we have placed on our
children and grandchildren had that amendment been passed? Last year,
Republicans put forward a plan to cut, cap, and balance our Nation's
budget which would have solved all our fiscal problems. But the
Democrat majority would not let it pass.
I applaud the members of the Alabama legislature for adopting and
Governor Robert Bentley for signing this resolution. House Speaker Mike
Hubbard and Senate Pro Tempore Del Marsh and their members have spoken
clearly. This resolution exhibits leadership and wisdom not found here
in Washington, DC. It is time we listen to the States and to our
constituents and adopt a balanced budget amendment to the United States
Constitution.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record
this resolution adopted by the Alabama Legislature and signed by
Governor Robert Bentley urging the United States Congress to submit a
balanced budget amendment to the States or to call a convention to
propose such an amendment to the United States Constitution.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
Whereas, the reluctance of the federal government to incur
debt and other obligations was established early in American
history, with deficits occurring only in relation to
extraordinary circumstances such as war; yet for much of the
20th century and into the 21st, the United States has
operated on a budget deficit, including the 2010 budget year,
which surpassed an astounding $1,300,000,000,000, an annual
deficit that exceeded the entire gross state product of many
of the states; and
Whereas, an exception to this pattern was at the turn of
the 21st century; in FY 2001, America enjoyed a $128 billion
budget surplus; and
Whereas, since FY 2001, America has been burdened with 10
consecutive years of deficits, to-wit:
FY 2002: $158 billion deficit
FY 2003: $377 billion deficit
FY 2004: $413 billion deficit
FY 2005: $318 billion deficit
FY 2006: $248 billion deficit
FY 2007: $161 billion deficit
FY 2008: $459 billion deficit
FY 2009: $1.4 trillion deficit
FY 2010: $1.3 trillion deficit
FY 2011: $1.5 trillion deficit (estimated); and
Whereas, as of January 2011, America's accumulated national
debt exceeded $12 trillion now estimated at over $13
trillion: and
Whereas, the Congressional Budget Office projects that, if
current trends continue under the White House's proposed
budget, each of the next 10 years has a projected deficit
exceeding $600 billion and
Whereas, the budget deficits of the United States of
America are unsustainable and constitute a substantial threat
to the solvency of the federal government as evidenced by the
comments of Standard and Poor's on April 18, 2011, regarding
the longer term credit outlook for the United States; and
Whereas, Congress has been unwilling or unable to address
the persistent problem of overspending and has recently
increased the statutory limit on the public debt and enacted
a variety of legislation that will ultimately cause the
federal government to incur additional debt; and
Whereas, the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility
and Reform in its report The Moment of Truth includes
recommendations to reduce the Federal deficit that have not
been considered by the United States Congress; and
Whereas, the consequences of current spending policies are
far-reaching; United States indebtedness to governments of
foreign nations continues to rise; costly federal programs
that are essentially unfunded or underfunded; mandates to
states threaten the ability of state and local governments to
continue to balance their budgets; moreover, future
generations of Americans inevitably face increased taxation
and a weakened economy as a direct result of the bloated
debt; and
Whereas, many states have previously requested that
Congress propose a constitutional amendment requiring a
balanced budget, but Congress has proven to be unresponsive;
anticipating situations in which Congress at times could fail
to act, the drafters of the United States Constitution had
the foresight to adopt the language in Article V that
establishes that on application of the Legislatures of two-
thirds of the several states, Congress shall call a
convention for proposing amendments; and
Whereas, in prior years the Alabama Legislature has called
on Congress to pass a Balanced Budget Constitutional
Amendment, many other states have done the same, all to no
avail; and
Whereas, a balanced budget amendment would require the
government not to spend more than it receives in revenue and
compel lawmakers to carefully consider choices about spending
and taxes; by encouraging spending control and discouraging
deficit spending, a balanced budget amendment will help put
the nation on the path to lasting prosperity; Now therefore,
be it
Resolved by the Legislature of Alabama, both Houses thereof
concurring, That the Legislature of the State of Alabama
hereby respectfully urges the Congress of the United States
to propose and submit to the states for ratification a
federal balanced budget amendment to the United States
Constitution; and be it further
Resolved, That, in the event that Congress does not submit
a balanced budget amendment to the states for ratification on
or before December 31, 2011, the Alabama Legislature hereby
makes application to the United States Congress to call a
convention under Article V of the United States Constitution
for the specific and exclusive purpose of proposing an
amendment to that Constitution requiring that, in the absence
of a national emergency (as determined by the positive vote
of such members of each house of Congress as the amendment
shall require), the total of all federal appropriations made
by Congress for any fiscal year not exceed the total of all
federal revenue for that fiscal year; and be it further
Resolved, That, unless rescinded by a succeeding
Legislature, this application by the Alabama Legislature
constitutes a continuing application in accordance with
Article V of the United States Constitution until at least
two-thirds of the Legislatures of the several states have
made application for a convention to provide for a balanced
budget; and be it further
Resolved, That, in the event that Congress does not submit
a balanced budget amendment to the states for ratification on
or before December 31, 2011, the Alabama Legislature hereby
requests that the legislatures of each of the several states
that compose the United States apply to Congress requesting
Congress to call a convention to propose such an amendment to
the United States Constitution; and be it further
Resolved, That this application is rescinded in the event
that a convention to propose amendments to the United States
Constitution includes purposes other than providing for a
balanced federal budget; and be it further
Resolved, That the copies of this resolution be provided to
the following officials:
1. The President of the United States.
2. The Speaker of the United States House of
Representatives.
3. The President of the United States Senate.
4. All members of the Alabama Delegation to Congress with
the request that this resolution be officially entered in the
Congressional Record as an application to the Congress of the
united States of America for a convention to propose an
amendment to provide for a federal balanced budget in the
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event that Congress does not submit such an amendment to the
states for ratification on or before December 31, 2011; and
be it further
Resolved, That copies of this resolution be provided to the
Secretaries of State and to the presiding officers of the
Legislatures of the other states.
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