Charles W. Stenholm: “I first want to stand and commend my colleague and fellow Texan for the yeoman's work he has done in promoting his…”

“I first want to stand and commend my colleague and fellow Texan for the yeoman's work he has done in promoting his proposal to amend the Constitution to require a balanced budget. Joe has worked tirelessly for an ideal he believes in passionately, not only this year but for most of his career here in the House of Representatives. I also want to say, as I have before, that I know Joe is sincere about his desire to move us toward a balanced budget. I have seen Joe cast the hard votes which both opponents and supporters of a constitutional amendment say must occur if we are ever to reduce our deficit. For example, last July, when I offered my entitlement cap proposal on the floor, which CBO scored as saving approximately $150 billion over 5 years, Joe was one of the 37 Members, 9 Republicans, who got onto my good-guy list by supporting this amendment. I know that whatever the ultimate conclusion of this debate may be, we can count on Joe to be there in the future for the hard votes.”