Press Releases

Congressman Gosar Expresses Dismay at Failure of Balanced Budget Amendment in the House

Congressman Paul Gosar (AZ-01) today expressed dismay and disappointment after the United States House of Representatives failed to pass a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution of the United States. While a majority of the House did vote for this amendment (261-165), a Constitutional amendment requires a two-thirds majority. Congressman Gosar, a cosponsor and strong supporter of H.J.Res. 2, issued the following statement after the vote:

“Families and businesses in rural Arizona have to live within a budget; so should our federal government. The balanced budget amendment considered by the House today represented substantive reform to the way Washington does business – the type of reform my constituents sent me Congress to enact.  It presents the clearest path to that fiscal reality. 

One thing is clear - Washington is broken and this vote demonstrates that some in Congress are more worried about the next election rather than getting our country back on track. I will continue to fight the status quo in Washington and push my colleagues in the House to implement common-sense reforms, like a balanced budget amendment, that will restore fiscal sanity and ensure prosperity for future generations.”

H.J.Res. 2 would have required that the President's proposed budget to Congress be balanced each year. The language is nearly identical to the version that passed the House in 1995 by a strong bipartisan vote of 300-132, including House Democrat Whip Steny Hoyer.  All but twenty-five House Democrats opposed H.J.Res. 2, including Hoyer, who lead the opposition.

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