Tony Thurmond: “I thank and commend the able Senator from Utah for his outstanding leadership in this matter. Why do we need a…”

“I thank and commend the able Senator from Utah for his outstanding leadership in this matter. Why do we need a constitutional amendment? We have not balanced this budget but one time in 36 years, eight times in 64 years. The Congress has failed to perform its duty. Therefore, we need a constitutional amendment that will make the Congress balance its budget. That is the only way I know to do it. A constitutional amendment will demand--demand--that the Congress balance the budget. Several years ago, when I was chairman of the Judiciary Committee, I authored a similar amendment and got it through the committee and passed it through the Senate and sent it to the House. And who killed it? The Speaker of the House, Mr. O'Neill, and the Democratic leader of the House, Mr. Wright, led the movement to kill it. The Democrats don't seem to want it--certainly a majority of Democrats. There are some good Democrats, and I ask them to join us, pass this constitutional amendment, and protect the people of the United States. We cannot keep on going like this. We are going in debt, debt, debt. The only way to stop it is to pass a constitutional amendment to make the Congress balance the budget.”