On the recordJuly 28, 2011
Secondly, the agreement around the Budget Control Act also ensures that there will be a vote in this body now tomorrow and a vote in the United States Senate this fall on a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution of the United States. There are other aspects of this bill that are meritorious--hard- spending caps, more enforceable than spending caps of the past; the creation of a bipartisan commission to negotiate spending discipline and reforms for the next installment of a debt ceiling increase. But for my part, making sure that any increase in the debt ceiling is matched dollar for dollar with spending cuts in this bill and for the first time in 15 years bringing a bipartisan version of the balanced budget amendment to this floor of the House and soon to the floor of the Senate are worthy of note. And they should endorse this approach. This is a very serious time, Mr. Speaker. I welcome the Budget Control Act as evidence that Congress can still compromise. We can still come together across the aisle. We can find a way to pay the Nation's bills and do so in a way that reflects our commitment to fiscal discipline and reform. Mr. McGOVERN. At this point, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Colorado, a former member of the Rules Committee, and we miss him, Mr. Perlmutter.





