Proposing a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution

Floor Speech

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Ms. LEE of California. I want to thank the gentleman for yielding and for continuing to fight the good fight on behalf of the American people.

Many of my Republican colleagues have come to the floor to keep telling us that the Federal Government must balance the budget, just like every American family. Well, it sounds like it makes sense to me, but it's nonsense. How would those families and businesses feel about Congress passing a constitutional amendment making it illegal to borrow money to invest in their futures? What if they could not get a mortgage to buy a house? What if they could not get credit to buy a car or get a credit card just to buy some clothes? What if they could not get a loan to grow their businesses? That's what this fundamental change to America's Constitution would do to the entire country. Can you imagine opening up the Constitution to make it impossible for people to invest in their future?

In addition, millions of families across America are taking in less income than they need to survive because of failed Republican economic policies that drove our economy into the ditch. Why would you now want to balance the budget on the backs of these people--seniors, the poor, our children, the most vulnerable? Now that people need a helping hand, Republicans want to tie the hands of government and restrict our budget so that exactly when Americans need more, you want to hurt them more.

This is really a moral disgrace. Let's stop wasting time on ridiculous efforts to amend our Constitution when millions of Americans need jobs now. Let's stop wasting time keeping campaign promises to Republican Tea Party supporters and pass real legislation that will create jobs like the American Jobs Act. Let's stop wasting time when nearly 50 million Americans--mind you, 50 million--in the richest and most powerful country in the world are living in poverty.

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Ms. LEE of California. Thank you very much for the 30 seconds, and I just
want to remind us all that 50 million Americans are living in poverty in the wealthiest and most powerful country in the world. And millions of job seekers are about to lose their unemployment benefits.
We do not need to radically alter our Nation's founding document to do what is right. We just have to take a balanced approach to reducing our deficits and balancing our budgets, and you do this by creating jobs.

So let the unwise Bush tax cuts expire, end the wars, cut the bloated and wasteful Pentagon spending, and protect the social safety net that protects millions of Americans.

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