Senator-Elect Mike Lee and the Hon. Ken Blackwell Back 'Balanced Budget Amendment' Effort

Goal is vote on BBA by October 1, 2011

PHOENIX, Nov. 8, 2010 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A new organization has launched to campaign for a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution, Balanced Budget Amendment Now.  Focused solely on passing a balanced budget amendment (BBA), the group seeks to enlist 5,000 – 10,000 voters in each congressional district who will urge their members of Congress to vote for a BBA.  This organization will be chaired by the Honorable Kenneth Blackwell, a longtime taxpayer advocate and fiscal conservative.

"We're glad to see the historic change in Congress and in state houses across America.  The people have spoken forcefully, and they reject the profligate spending and massive expansion of government that they see in Washington, DC.  The new Congress will face tremendous pressure as they seek to cut spending, and Balanced Budget Amendment Now will be there to remind them that they weren't elected to trim spending or slow down the rate of growth, but to cut, de-authorize and balance the budget.

"To that end, we want to give the 112th Congress and future Congresses a valuable tool to keep spending in check, a BBA to the Constitution.  Our first step towards this goal is a vote on the BBA by October 1, 2011, the first day of the next fiscal year.  Only by the active participation of 'We the People' can we force Congress and the President to act, before it's too late to avoid an economic collapse," concluded Blackwell.

Balanced Budget Amendment Now has asked Senator-Elect Mike Lee (R-UT) to draft BBA language and to enlist the support of his colleagues.  Senator-Elect Lee stated, "The time has come for Congress to do the right thing and pass a balanced budget amendment. The majority of states in this country balance their budgets every year.  Requiring Congress to do the same simply requires self-restraint, fiscal discipline, forethought and a commitment to follow both the roles and restraints outlined in the Constitution."

Lee concluded, "I applaud the efforts of groups like Balanced Budget Amendment Now for moving this issue forward.  This is the type of dialogue and discussion Congress and our citizens need to engage in at this critical time in our nation's history.  A balanced budget amendment is an important first step to reclaiming our future."

Ken Blackwell serves on the board of directors of the Club for Growth, the National Taxpayers Union and the National Rifle Association. He is a Senior Fellow at the Family Research Council. Mr. Blackwell was a  columnist for the New York Sun, a contributing editor for the conservative news and opinion site Townhall.com, and a frequent public affairs commentator for the Salem Radio Network. His columns regularly appear in the Wall Street Journal and National Review Online.

His public service includes terms as Mayor of Cincinnati, Undersecretary at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Human Rights Commission.  He is currently the Co-Chairman of the RNC Redistricting Committee and Vice Chair of the RNC Platform Committee. In 1994, he was elected Treasurer of the state of Ohio, and was later elected Secretary of State, and was the Republican nominee for Governor.

Mike Lee is the Republican Senator-Elect from Utah.  He served as a law clerk to Judge Dee Benson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah and clerked for Judge Samuel A. Alito, Jr., who was serving at that time on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit Court in Newark, New Jersey. After his second clerkship, he joined the Washington, D.C. office of Sidley & Austin, where he specialized in appellate and Supreme Court litigation.  He later returned to Utah to serve as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Salt Lake City, preparing briefs and arguing cases before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. He served as Governor Huntsman's General Counsel from January 2005 until June 2006, when he returned to Washington for a one-year clerkship with Justice Alito at the U.S. Supreme Court.  In 2007, he joined the Salt Lake office of the Washington, D.C.-based law firm of Howrey LLP.  In 2010, Lee challenged incumbent Sen. Bob Bennett for the Republican party's nomination, and will now serve as a powerful voice for Constitutional principles in the Senate.

Balanced Budget Amendment Now is solely focused on passing a BBA now and will not compromise our sole mission for any other legislative agenda priority.  Balanced Budget Amendment Now will run a 50 state media and grassroots campaign that forces Congress to vote on October 1, 2011 for a BBA.  BBA Now will educate voters in each district about whether their Member of Congress supports or opposes a BBA.

For more information, please visit  www.BalancedBudgetAmendmentNow.com

SOURCE Balanced Budget Amendment Now