Proposing a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution

Floor Speech

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Mr. LANKFORD. Mr. Speaker, 27 times the United States Constitution has been amended. It's something we do rarely, and it's something that we should think through in the process. We do it only because it is absolutely required and we have common agreement across the House, the Senate, and the American people. This is one of those moments.

If you ask most every American on the street, "Should we balance our budget?'' they will nod their head. If you ask them again, "Should we force Congress to balance the budget?'' again they will nod their head and say yes, this is something we should do.

There is common agreement across the American people because it's common sense. It's hard to explain to any family or any business why they have to balance their budget but Congress does not. It is the ultimate exemption for Members of Congress that they can spend as much as they want as often as they would like without any retribution.

I hear all the doomsday statements that if we balanced our budget, what would possibly happen if we had to live within our means? It makes me smile and say, just like every business and every family, we have to make hard choices, and we have to do it.

But it's not what doomsday prediction happens if we balance our budget. It is look up across the ocean at what is happening in Europe right now to nations that did not balance their budget, and for some reason, we think as Americans we can run up as much debt as we would like with no consequence. We are fooling ourselves.

The doomsday is coming. We must put a boundary around the United States Congress to be able to balance our budget. In 1995, when this failed by one vote, we will forever regret that if this occurs again. It's time for us to balance our budget once and for all.

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