Balanced Budget Amendment

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. HOEVEN. Madam President, I thank my esteemed colleague, the senior Senator from Utah, for taking the lead on this balanced budget amendment. I am pleased to join him, pleased to be one of the original cosponsors, and I am extremely pleased every member of the Republican caucus--all 47 Senators are supporting this balanced budget amendment and doing everything we can to reach across the aisle and bring our Democratic colleagues with us and then to send this balanced budget amendment to a vote--to pass this balanced budget amendment by a two-thirds vote--and then send it out to the States for ratification. Three-fourths of the States would have to ratify it as well. I believe they will.

What a great way for us to join together at the Federal and State level to make sure we live within our means, that we balanced our budget, that we do the things we need to do to not only get this economy back on track but to make sure future generations can enjoy the great country, the great opportunity we and those who have gone before us have enjoyed in the United States of America. We have that opportunity. We need to seize that opportunity by passing this balanced budget amendment.

As the senior Senator from Utah correctly mentioned just a minute ago, I had the opportunity--the great honor and privilege--to serve my State as Governor. As a matter of fact, at the time I was elected to the Senate, last year, I was the longest serving Governor in the United States. I served for a decade. Every single year we balanced our budget.

Madam President, 49 of the 50 States have some form of balanced budget requirements. The only one that does not is Vermont. Forty-nine States have that requirement. This year, so far, 46 of the States are expected to balance their budgets.

Families balance their budgets. Businesses have to balance their budgets. Cities have to balance their budgets. States have to balance their budgets. The Federal Government needs to balance its budget. It is not doing that.

When we look at the statistics--we have gone through them before, but these statistics we have to continue to talk about; our current situation is something we have to continue to talk about with the American people--right now, our revenues are $2.2 trillion. The annual revenues to the Federal Treasury, $2.2 trillion. Our expenses are $3.7 trillion. That is about a $1.5 trillion, 1.6 trillion deficit each and every year.

When we roll that up, that is why we are now at $14.5 trillion in debt, and that debt continues to grow. But it is similar to any debt, as any family can tell us or any business can tell us or any State can tell us, that as we continue to accumulate and grow that deficit and accumulate that debt, it gets harder and harder to get on top of it. It is akin to having credit cards. As one continues to charge and add to that balance on the credit card, it gets more and more difficult to get on top of that debt and deficit and reduce it.

So we have to get started. We have to get going. The task gets harder, not easier. That is what the balanced budget amendment is all about. We need the President to lead. When we talk about getting this debt under control, we need the President to lead. We cannot have a situation where we spend more and then simply borrow more or try to raise taxes to cover that spending. That is making it worse. We need this administration to join us. We need our colleagues to join us, to get a grip on this spending, to start by passing this balanced budget amendment.

If we look back to the decade of the 1980s and then into the 1990s and we look at President Reagan and his approach and his leadership for this country, he came and said: We have the most dynamic economy in the history of the world, so we have to create an environment, a pro-jobs, pro-growth environment that stimulates job creation, that stimulates private investment, that puts people back to work, that gets this economy growing. As we get that economy growing, we have the resources then to do the things we need to do: to invest in infrastructure, to make sure we take care of those who need help, to make sure we have health care for our citizens. But at the same time--at the same time--we need to control our spending and live within our means. That is the rising tide that lifts all boats. That is how we make sure everybody participates in the great opportunity that is the very foundation of this country.

But to get back to that point, we need this balanced budget amendment. We need this fiscal discipline in Washington to make sure we continue to honor the legacy we have, the legacy we have been given, and that we continue to make this country the country of opportunity. I know we can do it.

I thank the Senator from Utah for his leadership in this effort, and I thank my colleagues for joining together on this balanced budget amendment. I ask all our colleagues to join with us so we can pass it.

The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator's time has expired.

Mr. HOEVEN. Madam President, I yield the floor.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source