Joe Barton: “It has been a long debate today on the balanced budget amendment in general. There has been some debate about the…”

“It has been a long debate today on the balanced budget amendment in general. There has been some debate about the specific alternatives that are going to be considered later this evening and tomorrow. I have listened to the debate over the television in my office when I was not in committee, and I think there are several points that have not yet been totally highlighted. First, when the Constitution was propounded in the late 1700's, the Founding Fathers were very specific in what spending was allowed for. My recollection is that in the Constitution itself there are only 18 items that are specifically enumerated that money can be spent for. If you look at the history of government at the Federal level, you see that for the first 150 to 175 years there were many, many items that the Federal Government spent no money for. Education would be an example of that. Public health would be an example of that. With the beginning of the New Deal in the 1930's, continuing on into the present era, the Federal Government began to expand its role.”