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Today, U.S. Congressman Paul A. Gosar, D.D.S. (AZ-04) released the following statement after submitting testimony during the first full meeting of the Compact Commission of the Compact for a for a Balanced Budget which aims to enact the Congressman’s legislation, H.Con.Res.26:
“The Compact for a Balanced Budget will bring Republicans, Democrats, independents, and most importantly, people at the local level together to give them a true voice in helping solve our country’s spending crisis. Using an agreement among the states called an ‘interstate compact,’ the Compact for a Balanced Budget treats our nation’s spending problem as the constitutional crisis it is and advances a powerful Balanced Budget Amendment.
“The time has come for states to have a true voice in this process and for America to utilize an innovative approach to our budgetary challenges that does not require the President’s signature. It is time that the people of this great nation intervene and that we empower States to assist with reining in our $19 trillion plus gross federal debt.”
Background:
The full testimony from Congressman Gosar submitted at today’s Compact for a Balanced Budget Commission Forum can be found HERE.
The full text of the Compact for a Balanced Budget can be found HERE.
The Compact for a Balanced Budget consolidates everything Congress and the states do into two overarching pieces of legislation—one congressional resolution and one interstate compact joined by thirty-eight states. This approach dramatically reduces the time and resources needed to achieve a Balanced Budget Amendment.
An interstate compact is the proper vehicle to advance this effort as it transforms the otherwise cumbersome state-initiated amendment process into a ‘turn-key’ operation. The Compact empowers states and streamlines the actions necessary so all elements can be passed nationwide in a single session.
The Compact does require congressional consent to work, but such consent is achieved by simple majority passage of a resolution, which consolidates everything Congress must do in the Article V process into a single bill that includes the necessary safeguards.
Participants in today's inagural Compact for a Balanced Budget Commission Forum include:
The Honorable Paulette Rakestraw, Commission Chair (Presiding), Georgia State Assembly
The Honorable Mead Treadwell, Commissioner, Vice Chair, Alaska Lt. Governor (fmr.)
The Honorable Greg Snowden, Commissioner, Mississippi Speaker Pro Tem
Kevin Gutzman, JD, PhD, Chairman of the History Department, Western Connecticut State
University
Chip DeMoss, CPA, Chief Executive Officer/Treasurer, Compact for America Educational
Foundation, Inc.
Dean Clancy, MS, Partner, Adams Auld LLC
Nick Dranias, JD, President and Executive Director, Compact for America Educational
Foundation, Inc.
Ilya Shapiro, JD, Senior Fellow in Constitutional Studies
Andy Welch, Georgia State Assembly member, Partner, Smith, Welch law firm
Sven Larson, PhD, Senior Fellow, Wyoming Liberty Institute
Stephen Moore, Distinguished Visiting Fellow, Project for Economic Growth, The Heritage
Foundation
Curtis Olafson, former North Dakota State Senator
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