[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 57 (Thursday, April 14, 2016)]
[House]
[Pages H1688-H1689]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1215
                       BALANCED BUDGET AMENDMENT

  (Mr. DeFAZIO asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. DeFAZIO. Mr. Speaker, like many Americans, I spent last weekend 
struggling through my taxes, and I would like to know, like other 
Americans, that that money is going to be used in a responsible way and 
that we are going to move toward fiscal stability around here.
  I am the lead Democratic sponsor of Mr. Goodlatte's constitutional 
amendment to require a balanced budget. In my opinion, the only way you 
are going to get Congress to get serious is to have a constitutional 
requirement that the budget be balanced and that the President submit 
to Congress a balanced budget.
  You can't pretend you are going to do it just by cutting the heck out 
of everything. It has to include revenues, has to close tax loopholes 
and overseas tax havens and a whole bunch of other things that are 
leading to revenue losses.
  So I am introducing an improved amendment over and above that from

[[Page H1689]]

Representative Goodlatte which deals with a few concerns I have about 
that one.
  This one clearly protects Social Security and Medicare. This one 
clearly closes a loophole that we can't have off-budget spending for 
military operations. We must have a declaration of war if you are going 
to exceed a balanced budget. It would require the budget be balanced 
within 5 fiscal years of passing this.
  We have been kicking this can down the road. It is not a can anymore. 
It is a mountain of debt that we are giving to our kids. We have got to 
get serious about solving this.

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