Ros-Lehtinen Votes For Balanced Budget Amendment & Says That Too Many Democratic Colleagues Missed the Wake Up Call That Our National Debt Figure is $15 Trillion
Press Release
Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) voted for a Balanced Budget Amendment in the U.S. House of Representatives. Ros-Lehtinen strongly believes that our out of control debt is weighing down our economic activity and hindering job creation. Though the Balanced Budget Amendment received a substantial 261 "yes" votes, it failed to reach the 2/3rds majority needed for passage of a constitutional amendment.
This legislation, H.J. Res 2, the "Balanced Budget Amendment" would have required that Congress not spend more than it receives in revenues unless a supermajority of 3/5ths in both Chambers votes to approve. It also would require that the President submit a balanced budget to Congress because fiscal responsibility must occur at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue.
Said Ros-Lehtinen, "The latest figure on the national debt of $15 trillion should have been a wake-up call to all the critics of this important legislation. The need has never been greater for a Balanced Budget Amendment because our debt is hindering current economic growth and crushing future growth. I am disappointed that there are still Members of Congress who choose to turn a blind eye to this mounting problem.
This is simple common sense: If a family lives beyond its means for many years, stacking debt upon debt, sooner or later that family will have to either cut back its expenses and reorganize its priorities or file for bankruptcy. That is also the scenario our nation faces if we don't get our sky high debt situation under control.
It took the U.S. over 200 years from Presidents George Washington to Bill Clinton to amass the amount of debt that has been added since 2006. The present course is unacceptable. Too many of my Democratic colleagues in the House continue to play games when they should have been voting in favor of this constitutional amendment. America's debt problem is an existential threat to our way of life and we cannot ignore it any longer."
Source