On the recordFebruary 6, 1997
Mr. President, it was 2 years ago I rose as a freshman Member of this body to express my strong support for a constitutional amendment to balance the Federal budget. "There is no question that Congress must pass a balanced budget amendment and send it to the States for ratification." That is what I said here on the Senate floor. I thought that with the will of the American people behind us, at that time we had every reason to be optimistic about its passage. Well, here we are again, 2 years later, debating the same question we debated in 1995. And I am here once again to call for the passage of the balanced budget amendment. However, the release of the President's budget just this morning illustrates just how difficult it is to produce a balanced budget void of gimmicks and accounting tricks, and illustrates the very real need for the balanced budget amendment.
Source
govinfo.gov
