Smith Calls for Congress to Pass the Balanced Budget Amendment

Washington, D.C. - The House of Representatives today continued floor debate on H.J. Res. 2, a proposed Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution.  House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) managed the floor debate for Republicans and urged his colleagues to support the measure.  The House is expected to vote on H.J. Res. 2 later today. The measure requires a two-thirds majority vote for passage.  This is the first time in 16 years that the House has voted on a Balanced Budget Amendment.

Chairman Smith:  “The American people-of all political stripes and from all walks of life-demand we pass this amendment.  Recent polling by CNN indicates that a ‘constitutional amendment to require a balanced federal budget’ garners more than 70% support among men, women, whites, non-whites, every age group, every income level, and people from every region of the country.

“Why do Americans overwhelmingly support a balanced budget amendment?  Because they understand that unending federal deficits wreck our economy and steal prosperity from future generations.

“President Obama has set the wrong kind of new record.  The national debt has increased faster under his administration than under any other president in history. 

“This runaway government spending paralyzes the job market, erodes confidence among America’s employers and has caused the worst economic recovery since the Great Depression. 

“The balanced budget amendment is not an untested idea.  Forty-nine states have some form of a balanced budget requirement.

“We are overdue to adopt a balanced budget amendment to the constitution.  We must stop the flood of deficit spending that threatens to drown future generations of Americans in a sea of debt.”