Senate Resolution 82:
To petition the states to
convene a conference of states

U.S. Senate, March 02, 1995
Page: S3427

Mr. BROWN (for himself and Mr. Helms) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary:

S. Res. 82

Whereas Article I of the Constitution of the United States of America provides that the Congress is vested with the authority to lay and collect taxes, to pay the debts of the United States, to borrow money on the credit of the United States, and to appropriate money from the Treasury;

Whereas for the past quarter century Congress has been unable to balance the Nation's budget in any year;

Whereas the President of the United States has submitted a budget which increases the deficit in future years;

Whereas Members of Congress have been unable to agree on language for an Amendment to the Constitution which would require a balanced budget; and

Whereas Congress has therefore attempted to deny the several States of the United States the opportunity to vote on a Constitutional Amendment requiring a balanced budget: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That Congress hereby petitions the several States of the United States of America to convene a Conference of the States for the express and exclusive purpose of drafting an Amendment to the Constitution of the United States requiring a balanced budget and prohibiting the imposition of unfunded mandates on the States, and that such States then consider whether it is necessary for the States to convene a Constitutional Convention pursuant to Article V of the Constitution of the United States in order to adopt such Amendment.

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