| 1 | 1 | | 84R7380 RMA-D |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: Metcalf H.C.R. No. 59 |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | CONCURRENT RESOLUTION |
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| 6 | 6 | | WHEREAS, Year after year, the federal government has failed |
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| 7 | 7 | | to make fiscally responsible choices, and Washington must now take |
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| 8 | 8 | | aggressive steps to address our serious national deficit; and |
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| 9 | 9 | | WHEREAS, The United States Congress routinely passes budgets |
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| 10 | 10 | | leading the government to spend more than it receives in revenue; in |
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| 11 | 11 | | order to finance the resulting budget deficit, the U.S. Treasury |
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| 12 | 12 | | must sell bonds, and the government must pay interest on those |
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| 13 | 13 | | bonds; this cycle of deficit spending leaves less money for new |
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| 14 | 14 | | programs or tax cuts, and it could prove detrimental to the future |
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| 15 | 15 | | stability of our nation; and |
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| 16 | 16 | | WHEREAS, The State of Texas is one of 46 states that require a |
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| 17 | 17 | | balanced budget either constitutionally or by statute, and it is |
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| 18 | 18 | | reasonable to expect the federal government to operate within |
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| 19 | 19 | | similarly responsible parameters; through the years, many states |
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| 20 | 20 | | have requested that Congress propose a constitutional amendment |
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| 21 | 21 | | requiring a balanced budget, and although such a proposal won broad |
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| 22 | 22 | | congressional support in 1995, it failed by one vote in the senate; |
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| 23 | 23 | | and |
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| 24 | 24 | | WHEREAS, It is a fundamental truth that no entity can remain |
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| 25 | 25 | | solvent when expenditures continually outpace revenue, and every |
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| 26 | 26 | | home and every business must spend within its means or face |
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| 27 | 27 | | calamity; the fiscal irresponsibility of the federal government not |
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| 28 | 28 | | only jeopardizes the country's economic stability, but also |
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| 29 | 29 | | threatens national security; now, therefore, be it |
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| 30 | 30 | | RESOLVED, That the 84th Legislature of the State of Texas |
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| 31 | 31 | | hereby respectfully urge the Congress of the United States to |
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| 32 | 32 | | propose and submit to the states for ratification an amendment to |
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| 33 | 33 | | the United States Constitution providing that--except during a war |
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| 34 | 34 | | declared by the Congress of the United States pursuant to Clause 11, |
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| 35 | 35 | | Section 8, Article I, United States Constitution--the total of all |
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| 36 | 36 | | federal appropriations for a fiscal year may not exceed the total of |
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| 37 | 37 | | all estimated federal revenue for that fiscal year; and, be it |
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| 38 | 38 | | further |
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| 39 | 39 | | RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official |
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| 40 | 40 | | copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to |
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| 41 | 41 | | the president of the Senate and speaker of the House of |
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| 42 | 42 | | Representatives of the United States Congress, and to all the |
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| 43 | 43 | | members of the Texas delegation to Congress with the request that |
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| 44 | 44 | | this resolution be entered in the Congressional Record as a |
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| 45 | 45 | | memorial to the Congress of the United States of America. |
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