Patty Murray: “I rise today to the pending constitutional amendment. The authors of the amendment have called it the balanced budget…”

“I rise today to the pending constitutional amendment. The authors of the amendment have called it the balanced budget amendment. However, our vote today is not about balancing the budget, but rather about jeopardizing the future economic stability of the United States and eliminating the carefully crafted constitutional balance of powers. The amendment simply requires the President to submit a balanced budget; it does not mandate that Congress enact a balanced budget and it establishes no guidelines on enacting a balanced budget. This is not only the most dangerous budget gimmick put before this body, but it sets a dangerous precedent for addressing important issues facing us today and in the future. What the supporters of this amendment fail to point out is that we do not need to amend the U.S. Constitution to balance the budget. The President recently submitted to Congress a budget plan that does balance by the year 2002 and still protects our most vulnerable citizens; children, the disabled, and senior citizens. The President's proposal also continues our investment in education, environmental protection, biomedical research, and criminal justice. Instead of working on this proposal and enacting a budget for fiscal year 1998, we have spent almost a month debating an empty promise. Congress has a statutory requirement to pass a budget resolution by April 15, yet neither body has begun this process.”