[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 9]
[House]
[Pages 12176-12177]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                BALANCED BUDGET CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Virginia (Mr. Goodlatte) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, March 2, 1995, was a pivotal day in the 
history of our country. On that day, the United States Senate failed by 
one vote to send a balanced budget amendment to the States for 
ratification. The amendment had passed the House by the required two-
thirds majority previously, and the Senate vote was the last 
legislative hurdle before ratification by the States.
  If that amendment had passed, then we would not be dealing with the 
fiscal crisis we now face. If that amendment had passed, then balancing 
the budget would have been the norm rather than the exception over the 
past decade and we would have nothing like the annual deficits and 
skyrocketing debt that we must address today.
  The good news is that, like 1995, this Congress is again standing at 
a crossroads at this very moment. The decisions we make this week could 
steer the direction of the country for many years to come. We have an 
opportunity now to take action to ensure that our children will face a 
much brighter fiscal picture. We must not allow ourselves to miss this 
opportunity.
  And while, yes, we definitely need to deal with the debt limit 
squarely in front of us and take the opportunity to make significant 
cuts in government spending, we also must have a long-term solution to 
this problem. And that long-term solution is a balanced budget 
amendment to the United States Constitution. We will, I hope, have the 
opportunity to vote on such an amendment this week.
  Experience has proven time and again that Congress cannot, for any 
significant length of time, rein in excessive spending. The annual 
deficits and the resulting debt continue to grow due to political 
pressures and dependency on government programs. In order for Congress 
to be able to consistently make the very tough decisions necessary to 
sustain fiscal responsibility over the long term, Congress must have an 
external pressure to force it to do so. The most realistic chance we 
have today to enact this type of institutional reform is through

[[Page 12177]]

a balanced budget amendment to our Constitution.
  Many Members of Congress have introduced balanced budget amendments 
in this Congress. I introduced two versions on the first day of the 
112th Congress. H.J. Res. 2 is the exact text that passed the House in 
1995 and failed in the Senate by one vote. This amendment requires that 
total annual outlays not exceed total annual receipts. It also requires 
a three-fifths majority to raise the debt limit, and, in addition, this 
legislation has limited exceptions for times of war.
  H.J. Res. 1, which I also introduced, goes much further. In addition 
to the provisions of H.J. Res. 2, it requires a two-thirds majority to 
raise taxes and imposes an annual spending cap that prohibits spending 
from exceeding 18 percent of GDP.
  In the United States Senate, 47 Republican Senators have cosponsored 
a balanced budget amendment, which is a strong sign that the Senate is 
ready to engage in debate on this subject.
  Our extraordinary fiscal crisis demands an extraordinary solution. So 
we simply cannot afford to succumb to political posturing on this issue 
at a point in time so critical to our Nation's future. We must rise 
above that and move forward with a strategy that includes legislation 
that will get at least 290 bipartisan votes on the House floor.
  So as we consider a balanced budget amendment, I encourage the 
Members of this body on both sides of the aisle to devote our effort to 
passing this strongest balanced budget amendment that can garner two-
thirds of the House of Representatives.
  We are at a crossroads in America. We can make the tough choices and 
control spending paving the way for a return to surpluses and 
ultimately paying down the national debt, or we can allow big spenders 
to lead us further down the road of chronic deficits and leave our 
children and grandchildren saddled with debt that is not our own.
  The choice is ours. The stakes are high. Failure is not an option.

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