Ranking Member Scanlon’s Opening Statement at Subcommittee Hearing on Republicans’ Misguided Balanced Budget Amendment Push

Ranking Member Scanlon's Opening Statement at Subcommittee Hearing on Republicans' Misguided Balanced Budget Amendment Push

Washington, D.C. - Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-05), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government, today delivered opening remarks at a subcommittee hearing on Republicans' misguided attempt to advance a balanced budget amendment, just as they add trillions of dollars to the national debt by gifting their billionaire buddies generous handouts on the backs of hardworking Americans.

Below are Ranking Member Scanlon's remarks, as prepared for delivery, at today's hearing.

WATCH Ranking Member Scanlon's opening statement.

"Good morning, and thank you to our witnesses for testifying today.

The decisions that Congress makes about the economy, about taxes, spending, and budgets, are, or should be, decisions about values-who we're fighting for, what kind of country we are, or want to be, and the future we're trying to create for our children.

That brings us to the topic of today's hearing, a balanced budget constitutional amendment-a misguided proposal about how to address the often competing values and interests that must be taken into account when crafting our national budget.

Of course, we all share the goal of developing smart, efficient fiscal policy and budgets, but for decades, Republican presidents and members of Congress have talked a big game about "fiscal responsibility" while enacting policies that have exploded the federal deficit and the national debt.

It wasn't that long ago, about 25 years, when under the Clinton administration the US had a balanced budget, fueled in part by a combination of tax increases, spending cuts and reduced military spending. But since then, in the early 2000s and again during the first Trump administration, Republicans have handed the ultrawealthy huge tax breaks, eroding the federal government's revenue base and threatening our ability to fund essential programs that Americans rely on.

Time and again, these policies have failed to produce the broader benefits for all Americans that the advocates of "trickle down economics" have promised. And instead, they exploded the deficit, adding $10 trillion to the national debt.

Despite this, this summer Republicans once again doubled down, permanently extending tax giveaways to the wealthy in their One Big Ugly Bill, further expanding the deficit and ballooning the national debt. Now, after voting for that policy, our Republican colleagues think it's time for them to turn around and make a show of caring about fiscal responsibility.

But, don't be fooled. Today's hearing is just part of a decades-long, orchestrated political effort to help corporations and the wealthiest people avoid paying their fair share, a theory that tries to convince people that reckless tax giveaways to corporations and billionaires somehow stimulate investment and economic growth for everyone, for the greater good-a lie that's been debunked again and again for more than 50 years, and one that's led to sky-high income inequality and the enshrinement of a corporate oligarchy in our society.

These tax policies, these giveaways, have fueled the greatest rise in income inequality that our country has ever known, resulting in a continuing transfer of wealth from working and middle class Americans to the wealthiest people in our country. And we need look no further than the fact that the top 1% in our country pay a lower tax rate than all other Americans.

This pathological dedication to trickle-down economics is outrageous. It betrays the values that this country should stand for, and which our budgets should reflect.

If we want to shrink the deficit and lower the nation's debt, we should be talking about a tax policy that gives relief to working families and makes the rich and corporations pay their fair share, rather than allowing them to reap even more profits by imposing the costs of their businesses on the American people by paying substandard wages or poisoning the environment. This isn't a radical idea.

A tax policy that makes sure that everyone pays their fair share should be the starting point of any serious discussion about bringing the two sides of the budget equation: taxes and revenue on the one hand and spending, including military spending on the other. But, it takes a different kind of politics than what we're hearing today-one that believes the purpose of government is to serve all Americans, not just the wealthy and well-connected.

And the programs that our Republican colleagues have been only too ready to slash, in their Big Ugly Bill and with political scam "balanced budget amendment" they are pushing in this hearing, are critical to the health and well-being of the American people.

The majority of our yearly spending is mandatory-that is, funds not subject to Congressional appropriations and which must be paid, including: Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, veterans' benefits, and retirement programs for military service members and federal employees. These are vital programs that help our government keep its promises to the American people.

Less than half of our budget goes to discretionary spending, which is spending Congress appropriates each year, and half of that money goes to defense spending.

We can make sure our national debt is on a sustainable path by investing wisely in the American people and taxing fairly. We can work to build an economy that grows from the middle out, not the top down. We can provide affordable health care and child care, affordable housing, and make sure that every child in America gets a world-class public education.

But, that's not what our Republican colleagues want to focus on today. Instead, their solution to the deficit problem they helped create is to propose Constitutional amendments that force Congress to balance the budget on the backs of working and middle-class families-forcing cuts to essential benefits like Medicare and Social Security.

House Republicans have introduced at least six different proposed amendments. Though they don't all share the same features, they all have the same common goal: to continue to put their thumb on the scale to favor big business and billionaires over working and middle-class people, seniors, and our most vulnerable Americans.

A balanced budget amendment would shackle Congress and limit our flexibility to respond to changing economic conditions or crises with appropriate fiscal and budgetary policies. Tellingly, many of our Republican colleagues' proposals would require a supermajority in Congress to raise revenue or the debt limit, but not to cut spending.

The framers of our Constitution rejected the principle of requiring a supermajority for basic government functions because they believed it would shift power away from the American people's popular will to a determined minority. Balanced budget proposals requiring a supermajority would allow an extremist minority to hold our nation's economy and financial stability hostage.

You only need to look at the chaos of the current Republican majority to see what might be in store under a proposed amendment.

We've seen political brinksmanship over the debt ceiling and government funding. We've seen Speakers dethroned and federal budgets that slash health care and food assistance for Americans, while giving more handouts to the ultrawealthy.

A balanced budget amendment would only make things worse, and this dysfunction would be baked into our Constitution and democracy forever. That's not what the American people want, or need.

The bottom line is, we don't need to amend the Constitution to balance the federal budget. Our colleagues need to get their heads out of the sand and be willing to look at the revenue side of the equation. During the 1990s, under a Democratic president and a Republican controlled Congress, the federal government ran budget surpluses without a balanced budget amendment.

Our Republican colleagues control the House, the Senate, and the White House. If they wanted to do this, they could.

But, instead, they've chosen to make their number one legislative priority this term a trillion-dollar handout to their billionaire buddies. Our budget is not just numbers on a spreadsheet. It's the choices we make: To invest in our neighbors and communities, to provide opportunities for young people, to take care of the elderly and the most vulnerable, and to invest in American prosperity.

If we want a truly prosperous economy where everyone can get ahead, we need to abandon the misguided orthodoxy of trickle-down economics. Instead, we need to focus on policies that support children, families, communities, and working people.

We don't need a balanced budget amendment. We just need to do the job the American people sent us to do.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back."

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