Foley to Launch Fight Against Balanced Budget Amendment

House Speaker Thomas S. Foley (D-Wash.) plans to launch a campaign today designed to defeat a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced federal budget, congressional sources said Monday.

Sources close to the Speaker said he will formally declare his opposition to the amendment in a speech to the National Press Club and will work to try to defeat the balanced budget proposal, which is sponsored in the House by Rep. Charles W. Stenholm (D-Tex.).

His efforts will escalate the confrontation on what has become one of the most politically volatile issues of this election year. The timing of Foley’s announcement is designed to erode support for the Stenholm measure as the House prepares for a series of floor votes Wednesday and Thursday on the amendment and on a companion measure that would enact the requirement into law. It was not clear how much impact Foley’s opposition will have.

Amending the Constitution requires a two-thirds majority in both houses and subsequent ratification by three-fourths of the states. To date, 305 House members have signed a petition seeking to force House leaders to place the Stenholm proposal on the House agenda--the reason for the vote on Thursday.

President Bush has thrown his support behind the balanced budget idea, arguing in a speech last week that a constitutional amendment is needed because the current congressional budgetary system has failed to bring down the deficit.

Democratic congressional leaders decided last week to launch a full-court press to defeat the amendment, which economists have warned would result in painful cutbacks in military and domestic spending and most likely would necessitate higher taxes.

Last Thursday, House leaders introduced their own “alternative” version of the plan. It would exclude Social Security payments and payroll taxes--as well as interest on the national debt--in calculating government spending and revenue levels when determining whether a budget is in balance.

However, even opponents of the proposed constitutional amendment concede that it has a good chance of winning approval in the House and may win in the Senate if proponents there can muster sufficient votes for a similar plan by Sen. Paul Simon (D-Ill.).