84R7380 RMA-D
By: Metcalf H.C.R. No. 59
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
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.