| 1 | House Memorial |
| 2 | A memorial to the Congress of the United States, |
| 3 | urging Congress to propose to the states an amendment |
| 4 | to the Constitution of the United States that requires |
| 5 | the federal budget to be balanced each year. |
| 6 |
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| 7 | WHEREAS, a balanced budget amendment to the United States |
| 8 | Constitution has been proposed in the United States Congress, |
| 9 | and |
| 10 | WHEREAS, the current national debt is over $14.3 trillion, |
| 11 | a cost of approximately $46,000 for each man, woman, and child |
| 12 | in the United States, and is growing at an alarming rate, and |
| 13 | WHEREAS, for 2011, the Congressional Budget Office projects |
| 14 | that, if current laws remain unchanged, the federal budget will |
| 15 | show a deficit of close to $1.5 trillion, or a national deficit |
| 16 | equal to nearly 10 percent of the country's entire economic |
| 17 | output, one of the largest shares of entire economic output this |
| 18 | country has experienced since 1945, and |
| 19 | WHEREAS, if the White House budget projections come to |
| 20 | pass, the national debt will exceed the current gross domestic |
| 21 | product of the United States by December 2012, and |
| 22 | WHEREAS, this spending has created national security |
| 23 | concerns that the total interest expense on the debt due by the |
| 24 | Federal Government for Federal Fiscal Year 2010 alone, |
| 25 | approximately $414 billion, is almost eight times greater than |
| 26 | the 2010 fiscal year budget of the Department of Homeland |
| 27 | Security of $55.3 billion, and |
| 28 | WHEREAS, equally as concerning, foreign-owned debt |
| 29 | accounted for approximately 31.5 percent of the total federal |
| 30 | debt as of May 2011, and foreigners are, therefore, in a unique |
| 31 | position of authority with respect to the United States, and |
| 32 | WHEREAS, credit agencies have already downgraded the |
| 33 | nation's AAA credit rating due to the size of its indebtedness |
| 34 | and these very large federal budget deficits, deficits that |
| 35 | could potentially further destabilize government finances and |
| 36 | financial markets, and |
| 37 | WHEREAS, millions of people in this country have made |
| 38 | difficult choices discerning between wants and needs and have |
| 39 | taken the responsible steps to curb personal spending in these |
| 40 | difficult economic times, NOW, THEREFORE, |
| 41 |
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| 42 | Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 43 |
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| 44 | That the Florida Legislature respectfully petitions the |
| 45 | Congress of the United States to propose to the states an |
| 46 | amendment to the United States Constitution that requires the |
| 47 | federal budget to be balanced each year. |
| 48 | BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be |
| 49 | dispatched to the President of the United States, to the |
| 50 | President of the United States Senate, to the Speaker of the |
| 51 | United States House of Representatives, and to each member of |
| 52 | the Florida delegation to the United States Congress. |