Lance Supports a Balanced Budget Amendment in the Face of a $15 Trillion Deficit

In 1995, the country came within one vote of passing a Balanced Budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would've required the federal government to only spend as much money as they were taking in.

For the first time in 16 years and in the face of a frightening $15 trillion federal deficit, Congress is having another go at it: this week, the House of Representatives will debate and take a vote on the merits of enacting a Balanced Budget Amendment.

Rep. Leonard Lance (R-07) threw his support behind the amendment Wednesday in a speech on the House floor. 

"The primary focus of this Congress and our new leadership has been to restore fiscal sanity and fiscal restraint to the federal government," Lance said in pushing the amendment. "We must remember that the money in the Treasury is not our money, but it is the people’s money."

The congressman noted that the federal budget deficit will be hitting a record $15 trillion under President Barack Obama, almost equal to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) - the total value of goods and services produced in the United States.

The individual burden of that debt would be "$47,900 for every living American," said Lance, whose congressional district includes Woodbridge. "Washington now borrows approximately 40 percent of every dollar it spends."

Under the amendment, the president would be required to turn in a balanced budget to Congress, which in turn would only be able to exceed its income by a three-fifths vote from the House and Senate. 

A Tea Party version of the bill that would've put a tight limit on federal spending and required a two-thirds vote to raise taxes to balance the budget failed to pass. Republicans who are in charge of the House felt that the Tea Party version wouldn't get the support it needed from Democrats to pass.

"I would have preferred that the balanced budget amendment include a spending cap, but we need Democratic members to achieve the necessary two-thirds majority," Lance said on the House floor. "That is why the amendment we will be considering almost mirrors the 1995 text."

The measure has also gotten support from the House's "Blue Dog Democrats," the more conservative members of their party who are backing the amendment despite opposition from the Democratic leadership.

The Obama administration opposes the bill.

"Passing a balanced budget amendment would also help move us closer to the much needed economic certainty our nation desperately needs to boost the economy and help create jobs," Lance said.