On the recordNovember 17, 2011
I thank the chairman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I have to rise in opposition to this balanced budget amendment. I did vote for a similar measure in 1995, but the events over the last 15 years have brought to mind the axiom ``fool me once, your fault; fool me twice, my fault.'' I could never have imagined back in 1995 the chaos we experienced this summer. Despite the fact that we only needed to obtain a simple majority vote to raise the debt limit, which we'd raised 17 times during the Reagan administration, that would seem like child's play compared to what we would have to go through if this balanced budget amendment passed. {time} 1700 The events of these last 15 years have proved to us that this bill would have dramatic and dangerous consequences for our economic future. It would force the Federal Government to worsen economic recessions. Since Federal revenues fall while human needs rise in economic downturns, this bill would force spending cuts and tax increases at precisely the point when the economy is reeling, potentially turning a manageable downturn into a depression. Essentially, this bill would forbid countercyclical spending. Had this amendment been on the books in 2009, for example, we would not have passed the Economic Recovery Act, which proved to be a critical response to the economic catastrophe that followed the financial crisis.…
