TITLE: Urging Congress to propose an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to provide for a balanced federal budget, except during a war.

SUMMARY: Urging Congress to propose an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to provide for a balanced federal budget, except during a war.

FULL TEXT:
WHEREAS, Year after year, the federal government has failed to make fiscally responsible choices, and Washington must now take aggressive steps to address our serious national deficit; and WHEREAS, The United States Congress routinely passes budgets leading the government to spend more than it receives in revenue; in order to finance the resulting budget deficit, the U.S. Treasury must sell bonds, and the government must pay interest on those bonds; this cycle of deficit spending leaves less money for new programs or tax cuts, and it could prove detrimental to the future stability of our nation; and WHEREAS, The State of Texas is one of 46 states that require a balanced budget either constitutionally or by statute, and it is reasonable to expect the federal government to operate within similarly responsible parameters; through the years, many states have requested that Congress propose a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced budget, and although such a proposal won broad congressional support in 1995, it failed by one vote in the senate; and WHEREAS, It is a fundamental truth that no entity can remain solvent when expenditures continually outpace revenue, and every home and every business must spend within its means or face calamity; the fiscal irresponsibility of the federal government not only jeopardizes the country's economic stability, but also threatens national security; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, That the 84th Legislature of the State of Texas hereby respectfully urge the Congress of the United States to propose and submit to the states for ratification an amendment to the United States Constitution providing that--except during a war declared by the Congress of the United States pursuant to Clause 11, Section 8, Article I, United States Constitution--the total of all federal appropriations for a fiscal year may not exceed the total of all estimated federal revenue for that fiscal year; and, be it further RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to the president of the Senate and speaker of the House of Representatives of the United States Congress, and to all the members of the Texas delegation to Congress with the request that this resolution be entered in the Congressional Record as a memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.