Russ Feingold: “I rise today to oppose the proposed balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution. I also rise as a person who I…”

“I rise today to oppose the proposed balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution. I also rise as a person who I hope can be described as one of the strongest advocates of actually balancing the Federal budget. I believe the American people really want a balanced budget more than they want a balanced budget amendment. Although this may seem strange to a lot of people--and it is going to be very important to make this point both here and across America as we have this debate--I think passing the balanced budget amendment will make it less likely rather than more likely we will actually achieve a balanced budget in the next few years. A number of respected authorities have raised a variety of significant points of concern with regard to the amendment itself. Some say the problems related to the role of the courts and the power it might confer on unelected judges to set our national budget policy is a reason not to vote for this. Some talk of the damage the proposal could do to Social Security unless some changes are made to the current draft. I think that is a very, very important issue. Others say there will be unintended changes to the Presidential impoundment authority. That is something we have to look at.”