U.S. House Speaker Boehner Urged to Support Joe Walsh’s Balanced Budget Amendment

A press release from Congressman Joe Walsh:

Congressman Walsh reacts to RSC letter urging leadership to pass Balanced Budget Amendment, part of debt ceiling strategy

WASHINGTON – Congressman Joe Walsh (R-IL) today issued the following statement in reaction to the Republican Study Committee’s letter (attached) to Speaker of the House, John Boehner, and Majority Leader, Eric Cantor, that urges them to support H.J. Res 56 which is Congressman Joe Walsh’s Balanced Budget Amendment when confronting the debt ceiling. The letter was signed by 100 Members of Congress.

“Today, the RSC drew a firm line in the sand by sending a letter to Republican leadership urging them to adopt this Balanced Budget Amendment as part of the debt ceiling debate,” said Congressman Walsh. “The Amendment is part of a three-pronged plan to ‘Cut, Cap, and Balance.’”

“The Amendment is one I introduced back in April as a companion to the Senate’s amendment that all 47 Senate Republicans unanimously support. With the debt ceiling debate looming in the minds of Washington lawmakers, this is the best opportunity in a generation to guarantee a fiscally stable America for our kids and grandkids through a Balanced Budget Amendment. House Republicans will never again have the leverage to put institutional spending reforms in place. We must act now.”

 

Joe Walsh show on the House floor in an extended profile by ABC News.

“This amendment is the solution. If millions of working families balance their checkbooks every year, their government should do the same. Today’s letter shows the unified front of conservative House Republicans eager to change the course in Washington.

“Americans want more than what President Obama is offering. They deserve more. It’s time to stop making the same mistakes that got us into this debt crisis in the first place. It’s time to pass a Balanced Budget Amendment.”

The Balanced Budget Amendment features the following key provisions:

  • Presidential requirement to submit a balanced budget and Congressional requirement to pass a balanced budget;
  • Federal spending cap that Congress must limit outlays to no more than 18 percent of GDP, in line with the historical average of revenues over the last 40 years (this year, the federal government is projected to spend close to 25% of GDP);
  • Requires a supermajority in both Houses to raise taxes.

Congressman Walsh introduced H.J.Res.56, a Balanced Budget Amendment to the United States Constitution on April 4, as a companion bill the Senate’s Balanced Budget Amendment, S.J.Res.10. Congressman Walsh is member of the Republican Study Committee.


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