Tony Thurmond: “Today, we begin consideration of a proposed constitutional amendment to require the Federal Government to achieve and…”

“Today, we begin consideration of a proposed constitutional amendment to require the Federal Government to achieve and maintain a balanced budget. We are pleased that the House acted with wide bipartisan support as it adopted the balanced budget amendment by a vote of 300 to 132. Also, before we have extended debate on this proposed amendment in the Senate, I want to commend the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Senator Hatch. He is to be congratulated on the manner in which he handled this matter in the Judiciary Committee and bringing it to the floor for consideration. I have worked over the years with Senator Hatch on the balanced budget amendment and due in large part to his tireless efforts we are close to sending this proposal to the American people for ratification. I also wish to commend Senator Larry Craig of Idaho for his fine leadership on this matter. He has been a stalwart in this fight. Also, I wish to commend Senator Paul Simon of Illinois, who has been a leader in this cause for a number of years.”