[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 59 (Thursday, April 12, 2018)]
[House]
[Page H3153]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1015
                       BALANCED BUDGET AMENDMENT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, it is so poignant that Paul Ryan 
announces his retirement the same week that the Republicans bring to 
the floor the so-called balanced budget amendment, which signals 
surrender. Republicans can't budget responsibly.
  After the largest transfer of wealth in American history with their 
tax bill that was so flawed they could not even risk having a hearing 
on it, it was literally being written while we were in work session in 
the committee. They changed provisions by the hour in a mad scramble 
for votes and special-interest support.
  Ryan leaves as his legacy--a guy who on the Budget Committee railed 
about deficits, deficit spending, who tried slashing social spending--
he leaves as his legacy trillion dollar deficits for as far as the eye 
can see, and providing with this balanced budget amendment an excuse to 
slash spending on programs that matter most to Americans: Medicare, 
Social Security, Medicaid, even ultimately, it would threaten defense 
itself.
  The balanced budget amendment that the Republicans are going to bring 
to the floor is a classic example of bait and switch. Republicans have 
the White House, the Senate, and the House of Representatives. If they 
wanted to actually produce a balanced budget, there is nothing stopping 
them from doing it now. But instead, they came forward with the omnibus 
bill that explodes spending and adds to the deficit even further.
  So what do they do now? They are offering this proposal as a fig 
leaf. The balanced budget amendment that they would freeze into the 
Constitution would force somebody 4 years, 5 years, 8 years in the 
future to do what Republicans either will not, cannot, or are afraid to 
do today.
  My senior Senator for years was Mark Hatfield, a principled 
Republican, and even though I am a Democrat, I was proud to help him in 
his last campaign when he was under some severe pressure.
  Mark Hatfield was principled. He chaired the Appropriations Committee 
in the Senate. When the Republicans brought forth the balanced budget 
amendment in 1995, it failed by one vote in the Senate. That one vote, 
and the only Republican vote against it, was Mark Hatfield because he 
refused to handcuff the United States into the future and be part of a 
charade, because he knew as chair of the Appropriations Committee, they 
controlled the budget strings and they could reduce spending if they 
wanted. He knew the irony that some of the very people who were touting 
the balanced budget amendment would turn to him asking for increased 
spending for their pet projects.
  Today, Republicans pretend themselves to be outraged over the Obama-
era deficits which were incurred when we were trying to protect the 
economy from global collapse. All of the independent experts agree that 
that money was important. It was spent on infrastructure. It was spent 
on medical research. It was spent on providing a safety net for 
struggling families.
  What is the excuse today for a trillion dollar deficit? I mean, after 
all of that hard work, the economy has stabilized. It is not growing 
dramatically, but it is growing. The unemployment rate is low. What is 
the excuse for a trillion dollar deficit and massive tax giveaways? 
They are feeling the heat.
  Now, they are going to try and deflect responsibility for their 
trillion dollar deficits in a time of relative prosperity and low 
unemployment as a result of the hard work that the Republicans opposed.
  Republicans and Paul Ryan have made a shambles out of the Tax Code; a 
mockery out of tax fairness. They are not cutting spending or raising 
revenues. They just want to put that off for somebody in the future and 
pretend all of a sudden they are fiscally responsible.
  Mr. Speaker, I don't think it is going to work.

                          ____________________