Tony Thurmond: “I am very pleased to say a few words on behalf of the constitutional amendment to balance the budget. I have been in the…”

“I am very pleased to say a few words on behalf of the constitutional amendment to balance the budget. I have been in the Senate 40 years now and for 36 of those years I have favored a constitutional amendment to balance the budget. I worked with Senator Harry Byrd, Sr., Senator Styles Bridges, Harry Byrd, Jr., and many others in the past, in an effort to get this amendment adopted. As chairman of the Judiciary Committee a few years ago when President Reagan was the President, I was chairman of the Judiciary Committee and was the author of a constitutional amendment to balance the budget. We got that amendment through the committee and we got it through the Senate. We sent it to the House and the House killed it. The Speaker of the House and the majority leader led the movement to kill that amendment. Evidently, they did not want to stop spending. And the spending has gone on year after year after year. We have not balanced this budget but one time in 32 years. We have not balanced this budget but eight times in 64 years. That is a disgrace to this Nation. We should not spend more than we take in in any year. And if we do spend more, it should be made up immediately. Under the South Carolina law and constitution, we have to balance the budget every year, and we do it. If we can do it in South Carolina, we can do it in the United States. It is nothing but reasonableness and fairness and exercising foresight that will balance the budget.”