J. Thurmond: “I rise today to voice my strong support of a constitutional amendment to require the Federal Government to achieve and…”

“I rise today to voice my strong support of a constitutional amendment to require the Federal Government to achieve and maintain a balanced budget. In the last Congress, as in many Congresses before, I introduced a proposed balanced budget amendment and also joined as a cosponsor of a proposal which was agreed upon with proponents in the House of Representatives. That proposal was narrowly defeated in the House. The defeat was a direct result of the Speaker's successful lobby of several Representatives who were actually cosponsors of the bill but turned and voted against it when pressed by the Speaker. We have reintroduced this proposal as Senate Joint Resolution 41 which is the bill we are now considering. This current legislation is similar to a balanced budget amendment passed by the Senate in 1982 while I was chairman of the Judiciary Committee. Unfortunately, the Speaker of the House and the majority leader led the movement to kill it. Also, in March 1986, the balanced budget amendment received 66 of the 67 votes needed for Senate approval. Simply stated, this legislation calls for a constitutional amendment requiring that outlays not exceed receipts during any fiscal year.”