Press Releases

WASHINGTON—Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) today delivered his first official speech on the Senate floor, focusing on the need to pass a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution. Lee has been a staunch advocate for structural budgetary restraints that will hold Congress accountable for how it spends taxpayer resources. The speech included a call to move past the traditional partisan divides over spending and make the tough choices to reduce the country’s massive national debt.

“In the past there has been a great debate between, on the one hand, some Republicans who have been unwilling to cut some programs - to consider in any context cuts in the area of, say, national defense. You've had others who perhaps from the other party have been unwilling to consider any cuts to any entitlement program.

“But we're now faced with a scenario in which both sides of the aisle can understand that our perpetual deficit spending habit places in jeopardy every single aspect of the operations of the federal government.

“We now face a moment when both liberals and conservatives, Republicans and Democrats, regardless of what they most want to protect most in their federal government, have to realize that what they most want to protect is placed in grave jeopardy by our current spending practices.

“I'm troubled by the fact that as we approach debate surrounding a continuing resolution, this week a continuing resolution is likely to operate for just a few weeks to keep the government funded, we're still talking about adding on an annualized basis to our national debt at $1.5 trillion a year.

“I think the American people deserve better. I know that they demand better. And some of the things that we saw in the 2010 election cycle portends something greater than what we're going to see in the 2012 election cycle. Americans want Congress to balance the budget and they want us to do something about it, more than just talking about it.

“Benjamin Franklin used to say, ‘He'll cheat without scruple, who can without fear.’ I think the congressional corollary to that might be that Congress, which can continue to engage in perpetual deficit spending, will continue to do unless or until the people require that Congress to put itself in a straitjacket. That's the straitjacket we need. That's why I'm proposing this [Balanced Budget] Amendment.”

Senator Lee has recently introduced a “sense of the Senate” amendment to a bill being debated in the Senate today that would put Members on record as supporting or opposing a nonspecific Balanced Budget proposal.

Lee’s specific constitutional amendment, SJ Res 5, cosponsored by Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona, includes the following three pillars: (1) requiring a balanced budget for each fiscal year, (2) limiting federal spending to no more than 18 percent of GDP, and (3) requiring a two-thirds vote in both Houses of Congress in order to increase taxes, raise the debt ceiling, or run a specific deficit in a particular year.

WASHINGTON – Today, Senator Mike Lee of Utah released the following statement ahead of next week’s budget debate and amid accusations of a potential government shutdown:

“The question remains whether Senate Democrats will follow President Obama in penalizing the American people with massive tax increases, or whether they will instead take responsibility for years of excess and make sensible spending reductions in the current budget. Frankly, American taxpayers are not to blame for our massive deficit and we should not look to balance our budget on their backs. Americans are overtaxed as it is. The charge lies with Congress to show some fiscal restraint.

“Further, the threat from Democrats to shut down the government in order to protect excessive spending is utterly disappointing. That threat is unnecessary, irresponsible, and unwarranted. Republicans have suggested closing a mere fraction of our $1.5 trillion deficit, and this suggestion deserves serious consideration without resorting to talk of panic. This is another unfortunate reminder of why we need a procedural restraint, such as the Lee-Kyl proposal for a Balanced Budget Amendment, so we can avoid the kind of politics that could endanger our prosperity.”

WASHINGTON, DC—Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) and Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ) today introduced a Balanced Budget Amendment to the United States Constitution.

The amendment includes three pillars: (1) requiring a balanced budget for each fiscal year, (2) limiting federal spending to no more than 18 percent of GDP, and (3) requiring a two-thirds vote in both Houses of Congress in order to increase taxes, raise the debt ceiling, or run a specific deficit in a particular year.

Senator Kyl stated, “We can’t wait any longer to ensure Congress will rein in wasteful Washington spending. This balanced budget and spending limit amendment will do just that.”

“The federal government is too big and too expensive and the temptation for Congress to continue to spend billions and even trillions of dollars it does not have is simply too high. Again and again, even well-intentioned efforts to restrain deficit spending through the normal budget process have failed,” said Senator Lee. “A balanced budget amendment is the only certain method to ensure that the federal government consistently lives within its means. This past November’s election made clear that the American people will no longer tolerate reckless government spending and ever-expanding federal debt. The amendment that Senator Kyl and I have introduced is the essential first step in putting the nation’s fiscal house in order.”

In addition to Senator Lee and Senator Kyl, the number two Senate Republican leader, the amendment has received broad support from conservative leaders including Senators Jim DeMint, Rand Paul, David Vitter, Pat Toomey, Marco Rubio and John Thune as original co-sponsors as well as endorsements from conservative organizations like the Club for Growth, Americans for Tax Reform, FreedomWorks, and Americans for a Balanced Budget Amendment.