Wayne Allard: “I have introduced S. 3213. I want to take a few moments to talk about this important piece of legislation for paying…”

“I have introduced S. 3213. I want to take a few moments to talk about this important piece of legislation for paying down the national debt. As the 106th Congress comes to an end, I rise to make a few comments on the evolution of an issue of great concern to myself and to many Americans. The issue is the $5,661,548,045,674 national debt we had as of October 2, 2000. In August of 1993, while serving in the House of Representatives, I introduced House Joint Resolution 251 with the support of a number of my colleagues. The intention of this resolution was to amend the Constitution of the United States to provide for budgetary reform by requiring the reduction of the deficit, a balanced Federal budget, and the repayment of the national debt. During my years in the House, I had the good fortune to work with many Republican colleagues who were committed to these fiscally sound and enormously important issues. Today, a scant 7 years later, we are enjoying unsurpassed Federal budget surpluses and the many difficulties that accompany such prosperity. I am concerned that the running dialog in Washington is far too focused on today's spending, today's enormous Federal programs, today's immediate wants and needs. I am concerned that we are talking too much about spend today and not enough about the consequences of tomorrow.”