Earl Hutto: “Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the Stenholm balanced budget amendment, and I want to commend him on his work through…”

“Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the Stenholm balanced budget amendment, and I want to commend him on his work through the years. He has worked very, very hard to get our fiscal house in order to balance the budget. And this is the true balanced budget amendment, the Stenholm amendment, which our Nation needs to put our fiscal house in order. The time has come to get our Government on the right track. When I speak to my constituents about the deficit, I try to explain that the American people and Members of Congress want to reduce the deficit, but at the same time do not want a reduction in Government programs. We all know that something must give. While one can argue that Congress has the power to balance the budget right now, the political reality is that Congress needs an enforcement mechanism like the balanced budget amendment to hold our feet to the fire. The Stenholm balanced budget amendment will provide the stick to see that the tough decisions are made to reduce our deficit. This is not an easy vote, but we must stand up now for the sake of our Nation's fiscal future. I recently received a very touching letter from a 10-year-old constituent named Candy Magee from Pensacola who told me how much she wanted a balanced budget amendment, because she feared for the economic future of our Nation. Out of the mouths of babes--We must listen to our future.”