Proposing a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution
Floor Speech
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Mr. STUTZMAN. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
It is a great privilege and honor to stand here today. In listening to this crucial and very timely debate on the floor, it is one that I believe Americans have been expecting for quite some time because Americans are looking to Washington to see if leadership is going to come forward and do what American families do every day, what small businesses do every day--make sure that they don't spend more money than they have.
When our national debt tops $15 trillion, it's clear that we're broke. When the Senate refuses to pass any budget at all, something clearly is wrong. When each child born today inherits nearly $48,000 worth of debt, something must be changed.
My wife, Christy, and I have two young sons--Payton and Preston, who are 10 years old and 5 years old--and their lives are entirely in front of them. What we do today on this floor will determine the outcome for them and their families and for their children and their grandchildren.
This has not been a problem that has happened just under the control of the Democrats and Barack Obama. This has happened over the last 30 years under the control of both the Republicans and Democrats. That is why this amendment is so important.
Now, we'd all like to stand here and say, We just need to do the right thing--and I agree with that. Yet the problem is, over the last 30 years, Washington has not done the right thing. We have accumulated $15 trillion of debt. Debt is a disease which threatens to kill us.
Today, we must act decisively, and we must act permanently and let the American people vote on our Constitution, allowing them to say to Washington, Enough is enough. Small businesses and families are waiting and watching to see if Washington is going to increase the takings on top of an enormous and convoluted Tax Code.
I support this resolution, and I ask my colleagues to support it as well.
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