Pass a Balanced Budget Constitutional Amendment

Floor Speech

Mr. BUCHANAN. Mr. Speaker, as our national debt climbs to $14 trillion, on its way to $20 trillion, I commend the President for taking on this new Debt Commission. But the bottom line is for the last 50 years, we've balanced the budget five times out of 50. If you look at 49 out of 50 Governors, they have to balance the budget. If I look at what happens in Florida, they had a $70 billion budget 4 years ago. They've got a $60 billion budget today. But they have to balance their budget. They've got to make the tough choices.

That's why my first week here I introduced a constitutional balanced budget amendment that says simply, we don't spend more than we take in. Small businesses, families, they've got to make the tough choices every day. We don't need to. Why? Because we have the capacity to borrow. That's got to change. Otherwise, we're going to bankrupt America.

We need a constitutional balanced budget amendment today.

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