Russ Feingold: “I rise today to use the morning business time to further the debate on the balanced budget amendment and to indicate…”

“I rise today to use the morning business time to further the debate on the balanced budget amendment and to indicate that I oppose the proposed amendment to our Constitution. During the 103d Congress, this body wisely rejected the proposed amendment. It did so again during the 104th Congress, a Congress which, perhaps unlike any other in our recent history, seemed intent on finding different ways to amend the U.S. Constitution, actually voting on more amendments to the Constitution than any of its recent predecessors. Mr. President, some of us believe there are many reasons to oppose this constitutional amendment, and we have been hearing a lot of them. A number of respected authorities have raised several significant points of concern, including problems related to the role of the courts and the power it might confer on unelected judges to set our national budget policies and priorities. Another serious concern that we have heard a lot about and we will hear even more about is the damage this proposal could do to the Social Security Program.”