Lamar Smith

Mr. SMITH of Texas

Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Denham), a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee.

Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Gibbs).

Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 2 minutes. Yesterday, we began debate on the balanced budget amendment, debate that I hope culminates today with a bipartisan two-thirds vote in its favor. The American people of all political stripes and from all walks of life demand we pass this amendment. Recent polling by CNN indicates that a constitutional amendment to require a balanced Federal budget garners more than 70 percent support among men, women, whites, nonwhites, every age group, every income level, and people from every region of the country. Why do Americans overwhelmingly support a balanced budget amendment? Because they understand that unending Federal deficits wreck our economy and steal prosperity from future generations. President Obama has set the wrong kind of new record. The national debt has increased faster under his administration than under any other President in history. This runaway government spending paralyzes the job market, erodes confidence among America's employers, and has caused the worst economic recovery since the Great Depression. The balanced budget amendment is not an untested idea. Forty-nine States have some form of a balanced budget requirement. We are overdue to adopt a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution. We must stop the flood of deficit spending that threatens to drown future generations of Americans in a sea of debt. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SMITH of Texas

Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to take from the Speaker's table the bill (S. 1637) to clarify appeal time limits in civil actions to which United States officers or employees are parties, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. SMITH of Texas

Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Barrow), a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee.

Mr. SMITH of Texas. I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.

Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 15 seconds. I just want to say to the gentleman from Michigan who spoke earlier that I agree with him. Today is not 1995. In fact, the deficit is worse. Since 1995, the deficit has tripled. It's gone from $5 trillion to $15 trillion, which is all the more reason to support this balanced budget amendment to the Constitution. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to my friend and colleague from Virginia (Mr. Goodlatte), the sponsor of this resolution.

Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Franks), who is the chairman of the Constitution Subcommittee of the Judiciary Committee.

Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to my friend from California (Mr. Herger), a member of the Ways and Means Committee.

Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Gowdy), a distinguished member of the Judiciary Committee.

Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Goodlatte).

Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Americans want the Federal Government to stop excessive government spending and reduce the Federal deficit. The last time the budget was balanced was during the Clinton administration, when Republicans in Congress passed the first balanced budget in over 25 years. Meanwhile, the Federal debt has climbed from less than $400 billion in 1970 to over $15 trillion today. Mr. Speaker, President Obama has set the wrong kind of new record. The national debt has increased faster under his administration than under any other President in history. America cannot continue to run huge Federal budget deficits. Financing Federal overspending through continued borrowing threatens to drown Americans in high taxes and heavy debt, and it puts a drag on the economy. The Federal Government now borrows 42 cents for every dollar it spends. No family, no community, no business, no country can sustain that kind of excessive spending. That is the road to insolvency. Unfortunately, this kind of bad behavior has gone unchecked for so long that it has become the norm. The Federal Government has been on a decades-long shopping spree, racking up the bills and leaving them for future generations. We need a Constitutional mandate to force both the President and Congress to adopt annual budgets that spend no more than the government takes in. Only a balanced budget constitutional amendment will save us from unending Federal deficits. Just as both parties have joint responsibility for the deficit, we must jointly take responsibility for controlling the deficit by passing the balanced budget amendment. We came very close to passing this balanced budget amendment in 1995, falling just one vote short in the Senate of the required two-thirds majority. In that Congress, the amendment was supported by Congressman Hoyer, now minority whip, Congressman Clyburn, now Assistant Democratic leader, and Senator Joseph Biden, now Vice President. As then-Senator Biden stated in support of the balanced budget amendment, ``In recent decades we have faced a problem that we do not seem to be able to solve. We cannot balance our budget--or more correctly, we will not. The decision to encumber future generations with financial obligations is one that can rightly be considered among the fundamental choices addressed in the Constitution.'' Congress is way overdue to pass a balanced budget amendment, and the American people want it. Polls show that 74 percent are in favor of a balanced budget amendment. It took less than a generation for us to get into this mess, we need a fiscal fix that will now last for generations. If we want to make lasting cuts to Federal spending, a constitutional amendment is the only solution. It is our last line of defense against Congress' unending desire to overspend and overtax. Thomas Jefferson believed that ``the public debt is the greatest of dangers to be feared.'' Jefferson wished ``it were possible to obtain a single amendment to our Constitution taking from the Federal Government the power of borrowing.'' It is time that we listened to Thomas Jefferson and passed a constitutional amendment to end the Federal Government's continuous deficit spending. We must solve our debt crisis to save the future. I want to thank Mr. Goodlatte, the gentleman from Virginia, for introducing the version of the balanced budget amendment we are considering today and for his tireless work in support of the amendment. Since the 1930s, dozens of proposals offered by both Democrats and Republicans have called for constitutional amendments to address Federal budget deficits. We have the opportunity today to take the first step toward making a balanced budget a reality by passing this legislation. The American people have not given Congress a blank check. Let's demonstrate to the American people that Congress can be fiscally responsible and get our economic house in order. Borrowing 42 cents for every dollar the government spends and setting a new deficit record is not the road to prosperity. Let's put our country first and pass this amendment. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 466, I move to suspend the rules and pass the joint resolution (H.J. Res. 2) proposing a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution of the United States, as amended.

Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials on House Joint Resolution 2, as amended, currently under consideration.

Mr. SMITH of Texas. I yield the gentleman 1 additional minute.

Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Washington (Ms. Herrera Beutler).

Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Lankford), a member of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Fortenberry).

Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Washington (Mrs. McMorris Rodgers), a member of the Republican leadership.

Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Goodlatte) control the remainder of my time.

Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Coffman).

Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 15 seconds. I just want to point out for the record that all of the balanced budgets enacted during the Clinton administration were, in fact, proposed by a Republican Congress. I happened to be a member of the Budget Committee at the time. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Michigan (Mrs. Miller).

Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Nunnelee).

Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to a member of the Armed Services Committee, the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Cooper).

Mr. SMITH of Texas

Mr. SMITH of Texas. Madam Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.