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Foxx votes for Balanced Budget Amendment to Constitution

Congresswoman Virginia Foxx (NC-05) voted today for a balanced budget amendment to the United States Constitution.  The amendment, H.J.Res.2, requires the federal government to operate under a balanced budget and not run a deficit. 

“The federal government spends and borrows far too much,” Foxx said. “That fact was illustrated once again this week when the national debt topped $15 trillion. 

“A balanced budget amendment is a simple and commonsense step to address the exploding national debt and runaway government spending.  It already works for the 49 states that have a balance budget amendment and it’s time it worked for a federal government awash in red ink. 

“While I prefer and have cosponsored an even stronger balanced budget amendment with specific restraints on government spending levels, this is still a historic opportunity that should not go to waste.”

Under the Constitution, a two-thirds majority of each chamber of Congress is required to propose an amendment to the Constitution, and approval by three-fourths of the states is subsequently required to ratify a constitutional amendment. The House voted on a balanced-budget amendment in 1995, reaching the required two-thirds vote threshold for adoption. However it failed by one vote to reach the required two-thirds threshold in the Senate.

The current proposed balanced budget amendment requires that federal spending in any year does not exceed total receipts for that year, unless three-fifths of each chamber votes to incur a budget deficit. Each year the president is also required to submit a budget proposal that is balanced or that would generate a surplus. The amendment allows Congress to waive the measure's provisions for any year in which a congressional declaration of war is in effect.