William R. Richardson: “reducing the Federal deficit is unquestionably one of the most important issues facing Congress today. House Joint…”

“reducing the Federal deficit is unquestionably one of the most important issues facing Congress today. House Joint Resolution 103 proposes to amend the U.S. Constitution to require a balanced Federal budget unless a three-fifths majority supports a specified deficit. For the second time in 2 years, I am supporting this amendment. The constituents of my district have made their support for a balanced budget amendment very clear. Since my first term in Congress, I have made deficit reduction one of my top priorities. In 1986, I supported the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act. In 1990 and again in 1993, I supported the omnibus budget reconciliation bills passed by Congress. After the 1993 budget reconciliation bill included a record $496 billion in deficit reduction, I supported an additional $37 billion in cuts in November. Clearly, the record shows that these very difficult choices from the past year are paying off. At the beginning of last year, President Bush forecast the fiscal year 1993 deficit to be $327 billion. The actual deficit was $255 billion, $73 billion lower than the Bush forecast. Also, at the beginning of 1993, President Bush forecast the fiscal year 1995 budget to be $272 billion. The Congressional Budget Office has now forecast the deficit for fiscal year 1995 to be 40 percent lower or $171 billion. The result of this deficit reduction has definitely helped economy.”