For Immediate Release
(Washington, DC) –The House Judiciary Committee’s markup of a Constitutional Amendment to requirea balanced budget and limit the growth of government has earned enthusiasticapplause from the 362,000-member National Taxpayers Union (NTU) – along withNTU’s urgent plea for Congressional leaders to build a bipartisan consensus forsuccessful votes on the Amendment in both the House and Senate.
“The HouseJudiciary Committee has reached a major milestone toward making prudent fiscaldiscipline a principle of our U.S. Constitution,” said NTU Executive VicePresident Pete Sepp. “Now Members of Congress and their leaders in both partiesmust take the next steps together in this vital journey to restore limited,accountable government.”
Although NTUsupports several Balanced Budget Amendment (BBA) proposals, Sepp noted that theJudiciary Committee’s revisions to H.J. Res. 1 (sponsored by Rep. Bob Goodlatte(R-VA) and 133 others) help harmonize the legislation with a BBA sponsored byall 47 Republican Senators. As marked-up by the Committee, H.J. Res.1 would nowrequire a balanced federal budget in peacetime conditions unless two-thirds ofboth chambers authorize a specific deficit. In addition, lawmakers could notboost expenditures beyond 18 percent of Gross Domestic Product or increasetaxes without two-thirds “supermajority” consent.
Last month NTU Vice President for GovernmentAffairs Andrew Moylan testified in favor of a BBA before the JudiciaryCommittee’s Subcommittee on the Constitution. In discussing the merits ofseveral approaches toward the Amendment, he said, “Opponents contend that wehave never enshrined any specific economic policy in the Constitution andshould not do so now. But the BBA is not an economic policy and it is not afederal budget; it is a set of guidelines within which Congress can createeconomic policy and a federal budget.” His testimony is only the latest inNTU’s campaign (begun in 1975) on behalf of a BBA in Congress and through stateresolutions calling for a limited convention to draft such an Amendment.
“JudiciaryCommittee Members have crafted the most comprehensive BBA in NTU’s 35-yearhistory of campaigning for the proposal,” Sepp concluded. “Nonetheless, withouta strong commitment from leaders in both parties to make full House and Senatepassage a priority, the gains made so far could be for naught. Neither thisgeneration nor future ones can afford further delays – the BBA must moveforward under a bipartisan banner whose ranks should include every lawmakerconcerned about our nation’s prosperity.”
For Further Information, Contact: Pete Sepp or Doug Kellogg, (703) 683-5700
Note: Formore on NTU’s work on the BBA, including Moylan’s testimony, visit www.ntu.org