Dear Congressman Diaz-Balart

Unfunded mandates, insurmountable debt, and unconscionable spending are
mortgaging our children and grandchildren’s future. Therefore I ask for your
help to protect our Nation’s economic liberty. A strong economy is nothing
short of the very foundation on which our Republic stands. That is why we need
a Federal Balanced Budget Amendment.
 
For the last 40 years the American
people have told Congress they want a Balanced Budget Amendment.  Article V of
the United States Constitution allows for Amendments to be proposed two ways: by
Congress and by the States themselves. Amending our Constitution is not to be
taken lightly, nor should an Amendment be proposed for light and transient
causes. However, at such a time as this in our Nation’s history it has become
apparent that the future of our Republic is at risk. Florida’s house is in
fiscal order. We have a balanced budget. However, no amount of fiscal
discipline on our end will save Floridians from the flood of federal debt coming
our way. Florida must do everything possible to ensure its economic
liberty.
 
Therefore, I respectfully request you join the effort for a
Balanced Budget Amendment by affirming your support today. Rest assured,
however, that inaction at the federal level will motivate State Legislatures
across the country to find other remedies. It is not only the right, but the
duty of the several States to use every tool at their disposal to protect the
Republic. My hope is for Congress to pass a Balanced Budget Amendment. However,
if Congress does not, Florida is fully prepared to call upon Congress to convene
an Article V Amendments Convention for the limited purpose of Balancing the
Budget.    
 
The actions we take or fail to take now will determine our
future. The choice is clear: we take control of our destiny or it will take
control of us. When the States rose up in the 70s and 80s our deficit and debt
was nominal compared to what it is now; yet even then, the States were arguing
that it was imperative to the future of our economy. The stakes are even higher
now. Our debt is no longer owed to the American people, as in years past.
Today our debt is owed to foreign nations. Today our threat is not just a
troubled economy, but the very survival of our Republic.
 
Please join the
effort for a Balanced Budget Amendment and sign the enclosed “Pledge for
America’s Future.” Our country needs your leadership to initiate the journey
toward independence from debt, enduring prosperity and ensuring the blessings of
liberty for generations to come. 

Sincerely,

                                                                       
Jeff
Atwater
                                                                       
President

PLEDGE
FOR AMERICA'S FUTURE
                WHEREAS, fiscal
discipline and economic integrity have been core principles of American
governance, and

            WHEREAS, the American people have historically demanded the
same prudent, responsible, and intellectually honest financial behavior from
their elected representatives as ultimately compels individual behavior,
and

            WHEREAS, mortgaging the birthright of our children and
grandchildren is a dangerous departure from traditional American values which
threatens to permanently undermine the strength of our nation, and

            WHEREAS, the national debt has nearly doubled over the past 8
years to a number that is more than all Americans make in wages and salaries in
2 years, and

            WHEREAS, for the nation to pay off the entire federal debt by
2015, Congress would have to triple the federal income taxes of every American
and devote the increase exclusively to debt payments, and

            WHEREAS, our debt is increasingly owed to the governments of
foreign nations, not to the citizens of the United States; therefore, our wealth
is transferred to others and will not be available to supply the means for
America’s future growth and prosperity, and

            WHEREAS, this generation will bequeath to its children one of
the world’s most indebted industrial democracies, and

            WHEREAS, high federal deficits cause increasingly high
payments for debt interest in the future, make future borrowing more costly,
reduce investment activity, and thus reduce the size of the future economy,
and

            WHEREAS, states have long recognized the wisdom of fiscal
discipline and enshrined in their Constitutions and laws requirements to place
prudent limits on the tendencies of government to spend beyond its means,
and

            WHEREAS, the Federal Government has for too long relied on
revenue increases and borrowing against our future rather than on prudent
spending decisions within the limits of current revenues, and

            WHEREAS, lasting resolution of this nation’s budget deficit
can be achieved only by addressing the spending habits of our Federal
Government, not by increasing the tax burden under which our citizens already
labor, NOW, THEREFORE,

I pledge that as a member of Congress I will actively support an
amendment to the United States Constitution that will require a balanced federal
budget, with strict revenue limitations, and limit the federal government’s
ability to dictate state spending.