Ayotte Continues Push for Federal Balanced Budget Amendment

Press Release

U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) continues her legislative push for a Balanced Budget Amendment (BBA), joining several of her Republican colleagues today in the Capitol for a press conference announcing a balanced budget proposal that has the support of all 47 Republican senators. The resolution she helped introduce relies heavily on constitutional amendments proposed earlier this year by Senators Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and John Cornyn (R-Texas), and Senators Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Jon Kyl (R-Arizona).

"A federal Balanced Budget Amendment will force Washington to live within its means," said Ayotte. "With our nation staring down a sea of red ink, we need strict budget discipline measures to get our fiscal house in order. A Balanced Budget Amendment will provide a structural framework for putting our country on a path to fiscal sustainability."

Ayotte continued: "In 1997, a Balanced Budget Amendment came within one vote of passage in the Senate. At that time, the federal debt was just over $5 trillion and it now exceeds $14 trillion. This is the single most important piece of legislation we can pass in the United States Senate. For me, it's about our children. I have two small children at home, and we owe it to our children to make sure that they can live free from being indebted to China and that we aren't passing on to them our failure to make the tough decisions today."

The Balanced Budget Amendment resolution Senator Ayotte helped announce today features the following key provisions:

* Presidential requirement to submit a balanced budget;
* Congressional requirement to pass a balanced budget;
* Federal spending cap that Congress must limit outlays to no more than 18 percent of GDP, in line with the historical average of revenues over the last 40 years (this year, the federal government is projected to spend close to 25% of GDP);
* Prohibits the courts from ordering revenue increases.

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