[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1992, Book I)]
[June 10, 1992]
[Pages 917-918]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Address to the Nation on the Balanced Budget Amendment

June 10, 1992
    Tomorrow the House of Representatives faces a critical vote on the 
balanced budget amendment, and right now is the time for some straight 
talk about our national deficit. With our Federal debt averaging $65,000 
for the typical American family of four, I understand why the American 
people are fed up and why you are looking for change. I share your 
frustration, and I am determined to see things changed.
    I am convinced that a balanced budget amendment is the only way to 
force the Federal Government, both the Congress and the executive 
branch, to live within its means. In fact, the very first address to 
Congress I made as President included a call for a balanced budget.
    I confidently presented a balanced budget constitutional amendment 
to the Congress. I asked our Nation's elected leaders to put America's 
best interests first and to join me in reaching a goal whose benefits 
will be measured in jobs and opportunity for ourselves and for our 
children.
    Eighty percent of the American people agree: Government spending 
must be restrained and the budget balanced. Government is too big, and 
it spends too much. We are treating our national debt like the old 
fellow who borrowed money to pay off his loans. Inevitably, someone at 
some time must foot the bill. It is simply wrong to walk away from this 
mountain of debt and leave it to our kids.
    Forty-four of our States have some kind of a constitutional 
requirement for a balanced budget. It's time for the Federal Government 
to follow their lead. We must balance the Federal budget without 
shifting the funding burden along to the States. We must pay our own 
way. Our future is at stake. Now is the time to pass a constitu-

[[Page 918]]

tional amendment mandating a balanced budget.
    Let me caution Americans not to be taken in by bold blustering. We 
can't wheel and deal the deficit away. There's no easy answer that we 
can jot out on a blank sheet of paper to wipe out a deficit of that 
magnitude. A balanced budget amendment is real action, and it will work. 
We should not be willing to risk our grandchildren's future on sound 
bites that merely sound real. The deficit is what's real. Congressional 
inaction is what's real. A constitutional amendment mandating a balanced 
budget is what's needed.
    For that reason, I need your help to encourage your Congressman to 
do the right thing: Pass this balanced budget amendment. There is no 
single action that we can take that will be any more important than 
doing this for our Nation's future.
    Thank you, and may God bless you, and may God bless the United 
States of America.

                    Note: This address was recorded at 2:35 p.m. in Room 
                        459 of the Old Executive Office Building for 
                        broadcast after 4 p.m.