Rick Lazio: “I rise today in support of House Joint Resolution 103, the balanced budget constitutional amendment. My constituents…”

“I rise today in support of House Joint Resolution 103, the balanced budget constitutional amendment. My constituents back on Long Island agree with me that such a measure is necessary. In response to a questionnaire I sent to every household in my congressional district, 85 percent of the respondents said they support a constitutional amendment to balance the budget. Some of my colleagues in this House argue that an amendment is not needed because we are on the right path, citing the declining deficit at least over the next 2 years. This misses the point. Even assuming that all the projected revenues appear and spending cuts occur as projected, the gross Federal debt increases by 35 percent to over $6 trillion in 1999. From 1995 to 1999, Federal outlays will increase by almost $340 billion, and the deficit is expected to begin rising in 1997 unless we take further action. The Congressional Budget Office projects that net interest on the debt alone will be over $200 billion for 1994. This is almost 80 percent of what we will spend on all domestic discretionary programs. The path we are on imposes nothing less than a huge mortgage on our children. Thomas Jefferson said it well 200 years ago when he said, we must 'consider ourselves unauthorized to saddle posterity with our debts and be bound to pay for them ourselves.' Our inability to make the hard decisions necessarily lowers their standard of living.”