Contact: Virginia Davis (202) 224-6518
Wednesday, March 16, 2005

WASHINGTON, DC – Senator Richard C. Shelby (R-AL) today introduced a Constitutional amendment requiring Congress to have a balanced budget. Senator Shelby has introduced similar legislation every Congress since 1981.

Senator Shelby said, “As the United States Senate continues to debate the Federal Government’s fiscal year 2006 budget, I can think of no better time to introduce a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution.”

“A balanced budget amendment to the Constitution is the only certain mechanism to break the cycle of deficit spending and ensure that the Government does not continue to saddle our children and grandchildren with the current generation's debts. In fiscal year 2004, the Federal Government spent more than $321 billion just to pay the interest on the national debt. I believe that this money could be better spent on improving education, developing new medical technologies, finding a cure for cancer, or even returning it to the people who earned it in the first place."

“A balanced budget amendment is simply a promise to the American people that the Government will spend their hard-earned tax dollars responsibly. I think that we owe our constituents and future generations of Americans that much,” Shelby concluded.

If passed and ratified by three-fourths of the states, this amendment to the Constitution would require (except during times of war) that the total amount of money spent by the United States during any fiscal year not exceed the amount of revenue received by the United States during the same fiscal year and not exceed 20 percent of the gross national product of the United States during the previous calendar year.