Itimous Valentine: “Mr. Chairman, I rise today in strong support of the Stenholm version of the balanced budget amendment. Today, we in this…”

“Mr. Chairman, I rise today in strong support of the Stenholm version of the balanced budget amendment. Today, we in this body are considering exercising our most powerful legislative option--an amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Only 27 times in our history have we amended the Constitution. Our Founding Fathers made this procedure difficult. We should never act in haste or frivolity when tampering with our Constitution. I could stand before you today and reel off the financial figures our Nation faces today--a debt in excess of $4 trillion, and deficit which, thanks to the diligent efforts of President Clinton, has been drastically lowered, but still comes in at the astounding figure of $180 billion. We have reached the point where our debt is discussed in figures which were beyond our imaginations just 50 years ago. My colleagues, the time to stop this debt spiral is long passed. The Stenholm balanced budget amendment is strong medicine. It requires a balanced Federal budget by fiscal year 2001. It requires a super-majority of three-fifths of each body in order to operate a deficit. Unlike the various Republican substitutes, it recognizes that a realistic balanced budget will, in all likelihood, require a combination of deep cuts in Government services and increases in revenues.”