Lateefah Simon: “Foreign economists say that Congress' refusal last week to pass a constitutional amendment that would have required a…”

“Foreign economists say that Congress' refusal last week to pass a constitutional amendment that would have required a balanced budget by 2002 showed that Washington is simply not serious about putting its economic House in order. The German mark is already replacing the dollar as the currency of choice in Europe, and it may do so in Asia, too. That will undermine international faith in the U.S. economy and its government even further. I cannot understand what benefit U.S. leaders see in allowing the dollar to fall even more than it already has. Every once in a while, we do things here that are of monumental importance to the Nation. What happened last week is of such import. If we want to stop the slide of the dollar, the U.S. Senate can do it very, very quickly by adopting the balanced budget amendment. I say to my 34 colleagues who voted against it, any one of you can do a great favor for this Government and for the future of world stability by changing that vote.”