Rick Lazio: “in passing the balanced budget amendment by an overwhelming margin, the House of Representatives took an historic first…”

“in passing the balanced budget amendment by an overwhelming margin, the House of Representatives took an historic first step to finally controlling Federal spending. Now, for the second time in the 104th Congress we have another opportunity to pass a measure which will give us the tools needed to tackle the huge task of balancing the budget. I urge my colleagues to join me in giving the President of the United States the line-item veto that 43 of our Governors already have. Passing the line-item veto will better enable Congress and the executive branch to do what we should have done a long time ago--cut wasteful spending. The line-item veto will force Congress and the President to be fiscally responsible and answerable to the American people. According to the General Accounting Office [GAO] a presidential line-item veto could have cut $70.7 billion in needless spending from fiscal years 1984-89. We need to learn from what has not worked in the past and pass this bill that will help in the future. The American people want us to cut unnecessary spending. Let us pass this measure and continue our journey to a balanced budget.”