Herb Kohl: “I come here this afternoon to speak in favor of the balanced budget amendment. This is not a surprise to my colleagues.…”

“I come here this afternoon to speak in favor of the balanced budget amendment. This is not a surprise to my colleagues. I have been in support of a balanced budget amendment now for quite some time. I wish to add my voice to the voices in support of those who have up to this point indicated their support for the balanced budget amendment. I would like to give one or two arguments that I believe are very important as we consider this very important amendment to our Constitution. There is no question that we should not amend our Constitution very often and unless the reason is very, very important. We have only had 27 amendments to our Constitution over our history, so when we consider an amendment to our Constitution we clearly have to consider whether or not that amendment is of great importance. If it is not, we should not amend the Constitution. In this case, we have to ask ourselves whether or not financial responsibility, however it is defined, is a very important measurement and indicator of how our country is functioning at the Federal level and whether those who are entrusted with the responsibility of presiding over the Federal Government have a responsibility to be financially responsible. I think the answer is clearly yes.”