- Moderator
- #1
Oh, if this would be the only thing this Congress accomplishes it would be huge! I'm not holding my breath on this, but I might cross my fingers.Some House Republicans are expressing renewed confidence that the push for a balanced-budget constitutional amendment will gain real steam in the 112th Congress aided by the newly elected crop of budget-slashing GOP freshmen.
"We're very optimistic that we'll be able to get a vote on this at some point," said Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), who has introduced two separate balanced-budget amendment measures.
The bill garnering the most support is House Joint Resolution 2, which Goodlatte said mirrors the balanced-budget amendment in former House Speaker Newt Gingrich's Contract With America. It's essentially the same bill that passed the House in 1995 and came within one vote of getting through the Senate.
"Right now I'm just in the process of signing up as many co-sponsors as I can," said Goodlatte, who noted that he hasn't yet spoken to the Republican leadership about moving the measure to the floor. "There's such great support for this both outside and within the Congress, that I anticipate we can move it."
Goodlatte has already signed on 137 co-sponsors, including one House Democrat Rep. Jim Matheson (Utah) and he said both Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) have supported his push for a balanced-budget amendment in the past.
The Hill