Joe Barton: “Has not balanced the budget, the Federal Government has not balanced its budget since 1969, as the gentleman pointed out…”

“Has not balanced the budget, the Federal Government has not balanced its budget since 1969, as the gentleman pointed out in his remarks. The point that I am trying to make by this question and answer session is that in every year since 1965, Federal spending has gone up, so that in the year that we are in now, Federal spending is expected to be $1.531 trillion. That is a 1,300-fold increase in Federal spending in the last 29 years. In no year has Federal spending decreased. It has gone up. In the decade of the 1990's, from fiscal year 1990 through the fiscal year that we are now currently in, fiscal year 1995, Federal spending has increased an average of $65 billion, an average of $65 billion. That is an annual rate of over 6 percent in an era when the inflation rate has gone up less than 3 percent per year. So what does this all mean? It means, quite simply, that lack of revenue is not the problem in Washington, DC. The problem is that spending is out of control, increasing at a rate of over $60 billion a year in the decade of the 1990's, and annual deficits in the $100 to $200 billion range. So we need to do something about it, and we need to pass a balanced budget amendment. We need to pass a tax limitation balanced budget amendment, because tax limitation keeps spending under control and forces the legislative body that is accountable to cut spending, not to just spend more money and raise taxes.”