[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 6]
[House]
[Pages 8637-8638]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




        H.J. RES. 9, THE LINE ITEM VETO CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. English) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. ENGLISH. Madam Speaker, for many of us who came to Congress in 
1994, elected on a platform of fiscal responsibility and reform, it is 
a source of wonder and considerable pride that America now has 
something that a generation of national leaders had only dreamt of, and 
that is a balanced Federal budget.
  The current surplus is a major public benefit, opening long-term 
vistas of a debt-free America with a higher growth rate, lower interest 
rates and a cornucopia of economic opportunity. It was achieved through 
the disciplined efforts of a fiscally conservative Congress dedicated 
to reining in Washington's spending counterculture.
  We now know we can balance the budget, but we can only realize the 
long-term benefits of a balanced Federal budget if we keep it balanced. 
This will require changes in the way that Congress appropriates tax 
dollars.
  As Members of Congress, we need to look at real budgetary reform 
which will promote accountability in the appropriations process when we 
consider how to spend taxpayers' dollars. With this in mind, my friend, 
the gentleman from Maine (Mr. John Baldacci), and I have introduced 
House Joint Resolution 9, a proposed constitutional amendment that 
would provide a line item veto to the President of the United States in 
his consideration of any appropriation. This is important, bipartisan, 
and fiscally responsible legislation that deserves the prompt attention 
of this House.
  For too long presidents have had to adopt an all-or-nothing approach 
when considering action on bills containing appropriations. This 
presents a predicament for them when good policies and necessary 
investments are overloaded by unnecessary spending proposals.
  This line item veto has had a long history in the U.S. Congress. The 
first proposal was introduced in 1876. President Grant endorsed the 
mechanism in response to the common practice of Congress attaching 
riders to appropriations bills. In 1938, the House approved a line item 
veto amendment to the independent offices appropriations bill by voice 
vote, but the amendment was rejected by the other body.
  It did not come until 1996, in this reform Congress, that the line 
item veto act was finally signed into law by the President, and this 
law became effective in 1997. Unfortunately, after the President first 
invoked this new authority in August of 1997, the Supreme Court weighed 
the constitutionality of this law when it upheld a District Court 
ruling declaring the line item veto law unconstitutional.
  Those of us who support the line item veto have come to recognize 
that in order to authorize a line item veto, a constitutional amendment 
must be passed, and that is why I stand before my colleagues today. My 
legislation will correct an imbalance in our budgetary process long 
recognized, permitting a president committed to cutting unnecessary 
spending to do so surgically, using a scalpel instead of a broad sword.
  Madam Speaker, the line item veto is a powerful weapon in the cause 
of fiscal responsibility. It flushes out special interests, pork barrel 
spending buried in the depths of large appropriations and forces them 
to be considered individually, on their own merits, in the light of 
day. It allows a determined chief executive to challenge specific 
expenditures no matter how powerful their champions of the legislative 
process.
  Currently, constitutions in 43 States, including my own commonwealth 
of Pennsylvania, provide for a line item veto, usually confined to 
appropriations bills. These constitutions allow the governor the power 
to eliminate discrete spending provisions in legislation that comes to 
his desk for his signature. Governors have successfully utilized this 
power on the State level and it is now time to give this power to the 
President to cut unnecessary spending.
  Already, Madam Speaker, this amendment has been endorsed by a number 
of prominent national organizations, including the National Taxpayers 
Union, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Citizens for a Sound Economy and 
Citizens Against Government Waste. More importantly, in my view, the 
line item veto enjoys broad support from millions of taxpayers who are 
frustrated by the ponderous size and

[[Page 8638]]

unbridled waste of the Federal Government. Their call to action 
deserves to be heard.
  Madam Speaker, I invite my colleagues to join me in supporting this 
reform legislation and supporting this important amendment in restoring 
accountability to the process.

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