Statement on Bipartisan Balanced Budget Amendment

Statement

Today Rep. Todd Rokita, Rep. Bob Goodlatte and other members of the House of Representatives announced that next week H.J. Res 2, a clean Balanced Budget Amendment, will be brought to a vote in the House. Rokita released this statement:

"I have long advocated permanent and structural reforms to address our nation's debt crisis, the most important of which is a Balanced Budget Amendment. Next week the House will vote on H.J. Res 2, a simple Balanced Budget Amendment of which I am a co-author. This amendment simply requires that Congress not spend more than it takes in unless a three-fifths supermajority of both chambers votes to do so, requires a corresponding three-fifths vote to raise the debt ceiling, and requires that the President submit a balanced budget to Congress.

This amendment is nearly identical to the version that passed the House and came one vote short of passing the Senate in 1995. Because it does not require spending caps or a supermajority to raise taxes, it has bipartisan support and a real chance of passing the House again, passing the Senate, and, by the end of the year, going to the States for ratification. The most important issue currently before us is halting the out-of-control spending that is bankrupting our nation. This amendment, if passed and ratified, will achieve that.

Next week's vote may be the best chance we have left to correct our nation's fiscal trajectory and to leave our children and grandchildren a future of freedom and opportunity. Congress must pass this amendment and send it to the American people for ratification."

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