Jon L. Christensen: “last week we did an amazing thing. The House voted to live by the same rules and laws that the rest of the American…”

“last week we did an amazing thing. The House voted to live by the same rules and laws that the rest of the American people have to live by. Now, we need to take the next step. We need to pass a balanced budget amendment and put Government under the same accounting system that the rest of the American people have to deal with. Families have to balance their checkbooks; so should the Government. Families plan and prepare for the future; so should the Government. Where I come from, families want to give their children a chance to have a better life than they did. They work hard and they plan ahead. They teach their children that money does not grow on trees, that you do not write checks unless you have money in your checking account, and you keep your checkbook balanced. It is time for the Federal Government to do the same. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to treat the Government's checkbook as they would their own, and join me in supporting the balanced budget amendment.”