Political Quotes

“I rise in opposition to all four proposals for amending the Constitution to balance the Federal budget. I share the feelings of frustration which have led many of our colleagues to conclude that amending our Constitution is our only hope for solving the Federal Government's persistent budget deficit problem. The enormous deficits the Government has run for the last decade and a half are, without a doubt, the leading policy and political failure of our generation. They are the root cause of the low rate of investment in this country, and they are a major factor in our inability to respond to our Nation's most pressing needs. They are also a large part of the reason why voters are angry at Congress and why so many feel that our political process just does not work. But amending the Constitution to require a balanced budget is the wrong way to attempt to correct the imbalance between spending and revenues. The right way to do it is to enact well-thought-out spending cuts and revenue increases which reduce our annual deficits, but which do so gradually, in a way that avoids inflicting damage on a fragile economy. That is what the President and Congress did successfully last year, and it is what we should continue to do in the years ahead. The proposals before us, however, would deter us from acting in such a responsible manner in the future.”