Proposing A Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. NEWHOUSE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the good gentleman from Virginia for yielding me some time today.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the balanced budget amendment, offered by my friend and colleague, Congressman Goodlatte.

Reining in the Federal debt is not a partisan issue. In fact, the majority of Americans are united in consistently supporting a requirement to balance the Federal budget.

Our national debt has surpassed a record $22 trillion. You have heard that several times today. That is more than $64,000 for every man, woman, and child in this country. It is more than $174,000 of debt for every U.S. taxpayer. If we continue to let this number grow, we will continue to dig a deeper hole for our children and our grandchildren.

Since I came to Congress in 2015, I have worked to ensure the government does not spend above its means. I have cosponsored several resolutions in support of an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to balance the budget and am proud to be an original cosponsor of this legislation that we consider today.

In the 114th Congress, my colleagues and I offered an amendment to the Debt Management and Fiscal Responsibility Act requiring the Secretary of the Treasury to appear before Congress and submit a report with solutions to control the national debt before raising the debt ceiling.

I have also consistently voiced my strong concerns about fiscally irresponsible spending packages, as I did earlier this year with the deal to bust our budget caps and send our Nation further into debt.

Mr. Speaker, we are on a high-speed train heading towards a very large fiscal cliff, and soon it may be too late to slow this train down. This insurmountable debt threatens our Nation's economic and national security, as well as future generations.

The people of this country and of Washington State's Fourth Congressional District demand better and expect their representatives to promote fiscal responsibility.

Over 20 years ago, when the Federal deficit was at $5 trillion, a balanced budget amendment failed by a single vote in the U.S. Senate. It is time to put a stop to the Federal Government's out-of-control spending and use our authority in Congress to prioritize spending. This balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution is a great step in the right direction.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source