Rep. Brat Strongly Supports a Balanced Budget Amendment

Statement

Today, Rep. Dave Brat, member of the House Budget Committee and a former economics professor, released the following statement strongly supporting a balanced budget amendment. Last year, Rep. Brat introduced a balanced budget amendment (H.J. Res. 119).

"I am supportive of efforts to pass a balanced budget amendment for several reasons: it would codify Congress's responsibility for fiscal responsibility, it would restore the balance of power away from the executive branch back to the legislative branch and it would decrease the likelihood that Congress will continue on its current path of bankrupting the United States and shackling our kids with our an unpaid credit card bill.

"Along with a balanced budget amendment, Congress should pass a spending limit amendment bill. The economy is growing and our revenue is increasing, but our spending is growing at four times the rate of revenue. In the first six months of the fiscal year, revenues increased by $26 billion. On the other hand, spending increased by $97 billion in that same amount of time resulting in an almost $600 billion deficit. The deficit is expected to rise to as high as $1 trillion in 2019. Right now, even with our mountainous $21 trillion in debt, we are not even headed in the direction of a balanced budget.

"I hope the GOP leadership is serious about passing a balanced budget amendment, and they work hard to whip votes for this measure. This amendment has a steep vote count. If for some reason it fails, we can always try other fiscal moves with less austere requirements."

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