[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 13]
[Senate]
[Pages 18265-18267]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            BALANCED BUDGET

  Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I rise today to discuss our Nation's 
need to adopt a balanced budget amendment and to bring the Senate's 
attention to the Alabama Legislature's recent call for Congress to send 
such an amendment to the States for ratification. This is a thoughtful 
and well-reasoned resolution. Many other States have made similar 
resolutions. Our Nation is on the precipice of the most predictable 
fiscal disaster in our history and Congress has failed to act to remove 
the danger. U.S. gross Federal debt is now over $16.3 trillion; U.S. 
debt per person is over $53,000, higher than that of Greece; and for 
the fourth straight year, our Nation's deficit will exceed $1 trillion. 
The Federal Government cannot continue spending more than it takes in, 
and the people of Alabama clearly know that.
  The American people understand the necessity of living within one's 
means and balancing budgets. We see that as American families across 
the Nation are working to pay off their debt. In

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fact, American families have improved their balance sheets by reducing 
their outstanding credit card debt by 17 percent since 2008, over $150 
billion. The people expect no less of their State governments. Forty-
three of the 50 States, including my home State of Alabama, have 
balanced budget requirements.
  Unfortunately, as States and families across the Nation cut spending 
and balance budgets, the Federal Government continues to spend more and 
has increased its debt by more than $4 trillion since 2008. This 
spending course will at some point wreck our economy, just as it has 
wrecked that of Greece, Spain, and Italy. Now, more than ever, it is 
crucial that Congress adopt a balanced budget amendment and send it to 
the States for ratification. The surging debt crisis we face is so 
significant that we must have a balanced budget constitutional 
amendment. It has come close to passing before. When Senators and 
Congressmen have no alternative but to live within their means, like so 
many of our States, they will figure out a way to do it. But if 
Congress is not required by the Constitution to budget responsibly, 
then history has shown that Congress will not act responsibly.
  The people of Alabama understand these issues and the importance of 
balancing the budget. That is why the Alabama State Legislature has 
passed a resolution urging Congress to send a balanced budget amendment 
to the States for ratification. The people of Alabama are well aware of 
the dangers we face. Introduced by Senator Arthur Orr of Decatur, AL, 
with several of his colleagues in the legislature, this resolution 
acknowledges that ``the budget deficits of the United States of America 
are unsustainable and constitute substantial threat to the United 
States government.'' The resolution calls for Congress to pass a 
balanced budget amendment, and if the Congress fails to do so, then for 
Congress to call a constitutional convention to propose such an 
amendment. I applaud Senator Orr and his colleagues, Senators Scofield, 
Sanford, Holtzclaw, Williams, McGill, and Beason, for bringing 
attention to this issue and introducing this resolution. We will only 
see more grassroots movements like this to pass a balanced budget 
amendment if Washington continues to fail to meet the challenges of our 
time.
  It is not just my constituents in Alabama who are upset. Recent 
polling has shown that this Congress has one of the lowest approval 
ratings in history. The American people are becoming disillusioned and 
losing faith in their elected government as we fail to address the 
crises of our day. Indeed, we are not even working openly to deal with 
this great challenge. It is sad that Congress cannot even perform its 
basic business, as seen in the failure of the Senate to pass one 
regular appropriations bill this year or a budget in nearly 4 years.
  The Senate is supposed to be the world's great deliberative body. 
Unfortunately, the leader of this body and his majority party will not 
even propose a budget to the American people. When I came to the Senate 
in 1997, I voted for a balanced budget amendment that fell one vote 
short of the 67 it required for adoption. How much better off would we 
have been today, how much less debt would we have placed on our 
children and grandchildren had that amendment been passed? Last year, 
Republicans put forward a plan to cut, cap, and balance our Nation's 
budget which would have solved all our fiscal problems. But the 
Democrat majority would not let it pass.
  I applaud the members of the Alabama legislature for adopting and 
Governor Robert Bentley for signing this resolution. House Speaker Mike 
Hubbard and Senate Pro Tempore Del Marsh and their members have spoken 
clearly. This resolution exhibits leadership and wisdom not found here 
in Washington, DC. It is time we listen to the States and to our 
constituents and adopt a balanced budget amendment to the United States 
Constitution.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record 
this resolution adopted by the Alabama Legislature and signed by 
Governor Robert Bentley urging the United States Congress to submit a 
balanced budget amendment to the States or to call a convention to 
propose such an amendment to the United States Constitution.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

       Whereas, the reluctance of the federal government to incur 
     debt and other obligations was established early in American 
     history, with deficits occurring only in relation to 
     extraordinary circumstances such as war; yet for much of the 
     20th century and into the 21st, the United States has 
     operated on a budget deficit, including the 2010 budget year, 
     which surpassed an astounding $1,300,000,000,000, an annual 
     deficit that exceeded the entire gross state product of many 
     of the states; and
       Whereas, an exception to this pattern was at the turn of 
     the 21st century; in FY 2001, America enjoyed a $128 billion 
     budget surplus; and
       Whereas, since FY 2001, America has been burdened with 10 
     consecutive years of deficits, to-wit:
       FY 2002: $158 billion deficit
       FY 2003: $377 billion deficit
       FY 2004: $413 billion deficit
       FY 2005: $318 billion deficit
       FY 2006: $248 billion deficit
       FY 2007: $161 billion deficit
       FY 2008: $459 billion deficit
       FY 2009: $1.4 trillion deficit
       FY 2010: $1.3 trillion deficit
       FY 2011: $1.5 trillion deficit (estimated); and
       Whereas, as of January 2011, America's accumulated national 
     debt exceeded $12 trillion now estimated at over $13 
     trillion: and
       Whereas, the Congressional Budget Office projects that, if 
     current trends continue under the White House's proposed 
     budget, each of the next 10 years has a projected deficit 
     exceeding $600 billion and
       Whereas, the budget deficits of the United States of 
     America are unsustainable and constitute a substantial threat 
     to the solvency of the federal government as evidenced by the 
     comments of Standard and Poor's on April 18, 2011, regarding 
     the longer term credit outlook for the United States; and
       Whereas, Congress has been unwilling or unable to address 
     the persistent problem of overspending and has recently 
     increased the statutory limit on the public debt and enacted 
     a variety of legislation that will ultimately cause the 
     federal government to incur additional debt; and
       Whereas, the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility 
     and Reform in its report The Moment of Truth includes 
     recommendations to reduce the Federal deficit that have not 
     been considered by the United States Congress; and
       Whereas, the consequences of current spending policies are 
     far-reaching; United States indebtedness to governments of 
     foreign nations continues to rise; costly federal programs 
     that are essentially unfunded or underfunded; mandates to 
     states threaten the ability of state and local governments to 
     continue to balance their budgets; moreover, future 
     generations of Americans inevitably face increased taxation 
     and a weakened economy as a direct result of the bloated 
     debt; and
       Whereas, many states have previously requested that 
     Congress propose a constitutional amendment requiring a 
     balanced budget, but Congress has proven to be unresponsive; 
     anticipating situations in which Congress at times could fail 
     to act, the drafters of the United States Constitution had 
     the foresight to adopt the language in Article V that 
     establishes that on application of the Legislatures of two-
     thirds of the several states, Congress shall call a 
     convention for proposing amendments; and
       Whereas, in prior years the Alabama Legislature has called 
     on Congress to pass a Balanced Budget Constitutional 
     Amendment, many other states have done the same, all to no 
     avail; and
       Whereas, a balanced budget amendment would require the 
     government not to spend more than it receives in revenue and 
     compel lawmakers to carefully consider choices about spending 
     and taxes; by encouraging spending control and discouraging 
     deficit spending, a balanced budget amendment will help put 
     the nation on the path to lasting prosperity; Now therefore, 
     be it
       Resolved by the Legislature of Alabama, both Houses thereof 
     concurring, That the Legislature of the State of Alabama 
     hereby respectfully urges the Congress of the United States 
     to propose and submit to the states for ratification a 
     federal balanced budget amendment to the United States 
     Constitution; and be it further
       Resolved, That, in the event that Congress does not submit 
     a balanced budget amendment to the states for ratification on 
     or before December 31, 2011, the Alabama Legislature hereby 
     makes application to the United States Congress to call a 
     convention under Article V of the United States Constitution 
     for the specific and exclusive purpose of proposing an 
     amendment to that Constitution requiring that, in the absence 
     of a national emergency (as determined by the positive vote 
     of such members of each house of Congress as the amendment 
     shall require), the

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     total of all federal appropriations made by Congress for any 
     fiscal year not exceed the total of all federal revenue for 
     that fiscal year; and be it further
       Resolved, That, unless rescinded by a succeeding 
     Legislature, this application by the Alabama Legislature 
     constitutes a continuing application in accordance with 
     Article V of the United States Constitution until at least 
     two-thirds of the Legislatures of the several states have 
     made application for a convention to provide for a balanced 
     budget; and be it further
       Resolved, That, in the event that Congress does not submit 
     a balanced budget amendment to the states for ratification on 
     or before December 31, 2011, the Alabama Legislature hereby 
     requests that the legislatures of each of the several states 
     that compose the United States apply to Congress requesting 
     Congress to call a convention to propose such an amendment to 
     the United States Constitution; and be it further
       Resolved, That this application is rescinded in the event 
     that a convention to propose amendments to the United States 
     Constitution includes purposes other than providing for a 
     balanced federal budget; and be it further
       Resolved, That the copies of this resolution be provided to 
     the following officials:
       1. The President of the United States.
       2. The Speaker of the United States House of 
     Representatives.
       3. The President of the United States Senate.
       4. All members of the Alabama Delegation to Congress with 
     the request that this resolution be officially entered in the 
     Congressional Record as an application to the Congress of the 
     united States of America for a convention to propose an 
     amendment to provide for a federal balanced budget in the 
     event that Congress does not submit such an amendment to the 
     states for ratification on or before December 31, 2011; and 
     be it further
       Resolved, That copies of this resolution be provided to the 
     Secretaries of State and to the presiding officers of the 
     Legislatures of the other states.

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