[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 12]
[House]
[Pages 17312-17313]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      GOVERNMENT MONEY ISN'T FREE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Nevada (Mr. Heck) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. HECK. Mr. Speaker, Washington seems to have forgotten that 
government money isn't free, and it is the American taxpayers who 
support its spending habit. Simply put, the Federal Government doesn't 
respect your hard work, your discipline, your sacrifice or your 
unwavering commitment to self-reliance. We must change that.
  The time to force accountability, leadership and respect is long past 
due, and the balanced budget amendment to the Constitution may be the 
only solution. A balanced budget amendment would force Washington 
politicians to exercise necessary fiscal restraint and better judgment 
when debating where and how to spend American taxpayer dollars.
  The days of borrowing money and passing the debt on to our families 
and small businesses would be over, and Washington would be forced to 
live within its means, just like you and I.
  The government should be doing a few things very well, instead of a 
lot of things poorly. It should help give people peace of mind. But its 
insatiable appetite for spending does exactly the opposite. Our small 
businesses face uncertainty created by a government that funds its 
misadventures with borrowed money and higher taxes.
  Washington's spending habit will rot our economic foundation to the 
core and destroy the American Dream as we know it. The government can't 
spend its way out of a recession, but it can help create an environment 
of confidence and predictability that America's job creators, work 
force and families are seeking.
  President Barack Obama has said that the Nation needs a balanced 
approach when addressing Washington's unsustainable spending. But one 
only has to ask, what's more balanced than a balanced budget amendment? 
Forty-nine of 50 States have balanced budget requirements, and a CNN 
poll shows

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that 74 percent of the American people support a balanced budget 
amendment.
  This is not a partisan fight. This is a commonsense solution to an 
undeniable problem that is plaguing our economy.

                              {time}  1100

  Still there are those who oppose a balanced budget amendment because 
they believe Washington ought to be able to hold the line on spending. 
I wish we could trust that to happen, but over the last decade, both 
parties have spent taxpayer dollars at unsustainable levels. It is time 
to change direction and move forward with an approach that will rescue 
our economy with real and lasting results.
  With America's total debt exceeding the gross domestic product for 
the first time since World War II, we cannot afford to make this issue 
about politics. It must be about saving our economy and securing the 
future of our country for our children and our grandchildren.
  The debate in Washington comes down to this: Should we hold the 
government accountable or not? We must seize this opportunity to change 
Washington's culture of deficit spending. We must pass a balanced 
budget amendment.

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