Ahead of this week’s vote in the Senate on two competing versions of a balanced budget amendment, Senator Lee urged his colleagues to support S. J. Res 10, the only version that he believes will lead to meaningful spending restraint.
“After three straight years of record deficits, a national debt now larger than our entire economy, and losing our triple-A credit rating, Congress still hasn’t woken up to the seriousness of our situation,” said Senator Lee, a member of the Judiciary Committee. “By allowing spending to go unchecked, the opponents of a strong, structural spending restraint are threatening the future prosperity of every American.”
On Wednesday, the Senate will vote on Senator Lee’s balanced budget amendment and a version authored by Senate Democrats that allows Congress to easily circumvent any constitutional restrictions and avoid spending discipline.
Despite all the talk about spending cuts over the last year, Congress actually spent $145 billion more in fiscal year 2011 than it did in the previous year, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Lee said this proves the need for an external, structural spending restraint like S.J. Res 10, the Hatch-Lee Balanced Budget Amendment, to get the country’s annual fiscal deficit and national debt under control.
“Every day we wait to do the right thing means making tougher and tougher choices later. If we start the process of balancing the budget now and begin prioritizing what we spend over the next seven to ten years, we can avoid the dramatic and draconian cuts that will occur as a result of doing nothing.
“All of us know that spending is the problem. A balanced budget amendment to the Constitution that keeps Congress and the President in check is the only real solution.”