[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 17698]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               THE TROJAN HORSE BALANCED BUDGET AMENDMENT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Wisconsin (Ms. Moore) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. MOORE. Later on today we will be considering the so-called 
balanced budget amendment. And while I join my colleagues in sharing 
the view that we need to gain control of our national debt, I rise to 
commiserate our loss of a balanced perspective on what we, as elected 
Representatives of the people of the United States of America, regard 
as assets and liabilities on our American Government balance sheet. I 
am appalled, Mr. Speaker, at our loss of perspective on what good 
government really means as we balance our policy priorities in this 
moral document, our budget.
  Mr. Speaker, we have perverted the concept of a healthy balance sheet 
as we worship at the feet of a religion that tones that government 
should be limited and, perhaps, have no role in the health, welfare, 
and safety of the American people.
  Balancing the budget sounds so simple, so appealing, but that's not a 
truthful description of what this balanced budget amendment would do. 
This amendment is nothing more than a Trojan horse hiding the 
Republicans' true ambition, which is requiring major cuts to vital 
programs, dramatically shrinking the legitimate role of government, and 
enshrining this agenda in the United States Constitution.
  A balanced budget? A balance sheet contains both assets and 
liabilities.
  I would submit, Mr. Speaker, that it is a perversion of our American 
values to see our children, our future, as mere liabilities; our 
students, who need the government to invest in their higher educations, 
as mere liabilities; our communities, the economic engines of our 
economy who may be subjected to natural disasters such as hurricanes 
and other liabilities, who need to rebuild modern transportation 
systems, to see these as mere liabilities; and American folks, who need 
to breathe clean air and drink clean water, as mere liabilities on the 
Federal Government balance sheet.
  According to an analysis released this week by the Center on Budget 
and Policy Priorities, the amendment we are considering today would 
force cuts to all programs by an average of 17.3 percent by 2018. And 
if revenues are not raised, which there seems to be an anathema to 
doing that, all these programs will be cut by the same percentage. 
Social Security cut by $184 billion in 2018 alone; Medicare cut by $117 
billion in 2018; Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program 
cut by $80 billion in 2018.
  We have constructed a balance sheet where our people are not viewed 
as assets. Our American universities, our students, the next generation 
of inventions and innovators are seen as welfare recipients when we 
provide them with Pell Grants. Seniors who have earned retirement 
security are now seen as a drain on our system. These seniors who built 
our economy through their ingenuity and sweat, Medicare and Social 
Security for them is seen as socialism.
  Mr. Speaker, we have heard the constant drumbeat demanding that we 
severely restrain the benefits and the rights we provide to our seniors 
and our people. And what do we regard as our assets on our balance 
sheet? Our bloated, cold war-era military buildup.
  And what kind of balance sheet, Mr. Speaker, expends trillions of 
dollars on tax breaks to millionaires and expatriate corporations and 
treats revenue loss needed for the legitimate operation of the 
government like assets?

                              {time}  1110

  This is a balance sheet reminiscent of a corporate raider that strips 
down all of the assets and leaves the company limping lifeless in the 
dust.
  What kind of country lauds a balanced budget that achieves this 
balance on the backs of children, students, working class families, the 
disabled, the hungry, the infirm, the elderly, the environment, victims 
of natural disasters, and wounded veterans returning to unemployment 
and a jobless economy? Is this a balanced budget, Mr. Speaker, or is 
this our unbalanced priorities?
  Mr. Speaker, I thank you for your indulgence in listening to me 
today.

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