Isakson Co-Sponsors Constitutional Amendment to Balance Federal Budget

'I Refuse to Stand By and Let the Government Continue to Mortgage Our Children's and Grandchildren's Future'

Jan 26, 2011

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., today announced that he is again co-sponsoring a constitutional amendment requiring Congress to balance the federal budget, a measure aimed at reducing the nation’s debt. The legislation would also prohibit deficit spending and tax increases unless overridden by two-thirds of the House and Senate.

“Our national debt has reached an unprecedented $14 trillion and risen by more than 25 percent in just the last two years, which is simply unacceptable. This is why I continue to support a balanced budget amendment,” said Isakson. “The federal government must do what the American people have had to do during this economically challenging time—sit at the kitchen table and make the difficult choices of how to spend their money and where to make cuts. I refuse to stand by and let the government continue to mortgage our children’s and grandchildren’s future.”

The proposed constitutional amendment, introduced by Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) and Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT), has received strong support in the U.S. Senate, as well as from the American Conservative Union and Americans for Tax Reform.

Isakson has previously sponsored similar legislation to balance the federal budget as well as measures to curb federal spending, reform the budgeting process and increase oversight of federal spending.

Isakson also is a proponent of switching Congress to a biennial budget process that would convert the annual spending process to a two-year cycle, with one year for appropriating federal dollars and the other year devoted to oversight of federal programs.