Washington, D.C. -- In his state of the union address to the nation this evening, President Clinton spoke out against the passage of a balanced budget amendment. Gerald W. McEntee, AFSCME international president, speaking on behalf of the Coalition for Budget Integrity -- a group of approximately 200 national and diverse organizations, united in their opposition to a balanced budget amendment, issued the following statement:

"President Clinton should be commended for revealing the balanced budget amendment for what it truly is: a dangerous proposal that would put the U.S. economy in a strait jacket.

"Because the proposed constitutional amendment would require the budget to be in balance or in surplus every year, regardless of whether economic growth is strong or weak, it could damage our economy. Recessions would occur more frequently and more severely. And the risk of a government default is increased with such an amendment.

"The amount of budget-cutting needed to balance the budget each year would be large, forcing huge cuts in education, environment, even Social Security. Congress now has the ability to make tough budget decisions. They should cast votes instead of pushing dangerous and phony proposals like the balanced budget amendment."