While it is true that much of the enormous growth in Federal Government spending over the past two decades may be a response to evolving notions of the role of the public sector on the part of the American citizenry--that is, a genuine shift in the will and desire of the people--it is my contention that a substantial part of this growth stems from far less benign factors.<p>
In short, the American political process is defective insofar as it is skewed toward artificially high levels of spending, that is, levels of spending that do not result from a genuine will and desire on the part of the people. It is skewed in part because the people often do not have complete information about the cost of programs or about the potential for cost growth of many programs. It is skewed in this direction because of the characteristics of the fiscal order that have developed in this country in recent decades. It is a fiscal order in which Members of Congress have every political incentive to spend money and almost no incentive to forego such spending. It is a fiscal order in which spending decisions have become increasingly divorced from the availability of revenues.<p>
The balanced budget amendment seeks to restore Government accountability for spending and taxing decisions by forcing Congress to prioritize spending projects within the available resources and by requiring tax increases to be done on the record. In this way, Congress will be accountable to the people who pay for the programs and the American people--including the future generations who must pay for our debts--will be represented in a way they are not now. Congress will be forced to justify its spending and taxing decisions as the Framers intended, but as Congress no longer does. No longer can Congress just say yes to every special interest group and shove the costs onto our children or pretend that there are no costs. Every spending decision will be forced to compete with others and subjected to rigorous cost/benefit analysis.<p>
Mr. President, this is the essence of responsible fiscal decisionmaking, and is the essence of the balanced budget amendment.<p>
Mr. President, we have just heard the address of our first President of the United States, which we have read to us on an annual basis during the time we celebrate Washington's birthday.<p>
I have to say, Mr. President, that that first President, as well as most all subsequent Presidents, would not believe what is going on today with regard to our taxing and spending policies. They would not believe that for 26 straight years, we have failed to balance the budget. They would not believe that we have put our country into almost $5 trillion of debt, and they would not believe that a current President would have submitted a budget that has approximately a $200 billion deficit for each of the next 12 years. They would not believe that we are spending and taxing the American people the way we are.<p>
They expected that perhaps, during times of war or during times of severe recession or depression, that there might be some deficits run. But they never expected, at the Founding, that we would run deficits every year for 26 straight years, and for most of the last 60 years. I think some of them must be rolling over in their graves.<p>
This is a chance for us--because the House of Representatives for the first time in history has passed a balanced budget amendment, essentially the same one that we called up in 1982 and 1986 and last year--to follow suit and for the first time in history submit a balanced budget amendment to the States for their ratification. It is worth the effort. It is worth the pain. It is something we simply must do.<p>
Eighty percent of the American people realize it. We just need 67 percent of the U.S. Senate to realize it and vote for it.<p>
Mr. President, I urge my colleagues in the strongest terms to support this constitutional amendment to help us to restore sound government to the American people. I think it is the only way we are going to get there and it is the only way we can protect the future or even have a future of any great value for our children and grandchildren. We owe it to them.</body>
