BALANCED-BUDGET AMENDMENT AN ISSUE OF MORALITY.

Byline: U.S. Rep. Howard P. ``Buck'' McKeon

IN 1969, the New York Jets won the Super Bowl. The Smothers Brothers and ``Mod Squad'' were still on television. And the federal government balanced its budget.

Why has it been a generation since we balanced our books?

Because for too long, Washington forgot the basic truth families live with every day - we shouldn't spend money we don't have, especially when it means we leave our children the bills.

That's why the balanced-budget amendment, a top priority of mine and my colleagues, is a moral issue for Congress, not an accounting issue. It's our moral responsibility to stop robbing generations of the opportunities and prosperity they deserve.

Because of the government's deficit spending, a child born today owes nearly $200,000 in taxes just to pay the interest on the debt. And all of us pay for the deficit and debt in hidden ways. Interest on the debt eats up more and more of our federal budget, crowding out spending on our priorities and keeping taxes and interest rates high.

If we balance the budget, interest rates could drop as much as 2 percent. The savings to a family could be as high as $37,000 on the life of a 30-year mortgage, $2,200 on a student loan and $900 over an average-priced car loan. That's real savings and a lower cost of living for all Americans.

Can we finally make the balanced-budget amendment a reality this year? A bipartisan majority agrees we can, and we must because a constitutional amendment is the only way to ensure that Washington permanently changes its ways, to be accountable for every one of your tax dollars, to ensure our children aren't saddled with more debt.

That's why we're expecting such a fierce fight over our effort. Washington's special interests and permanent bureaucracy have no interest in being accountable to you. They know they can't beat this amendment with the truth, so they'll focus on fear. I'd like to address the most outrageous charge, that a balanced-budget amendment is a threat to Social Security.

The truth is, the greatest threat to Social Security is the debt itself. The national debt is about $5.3 trillion - and about $600 billion is owed to Social Security trust funds. If we do nothing, the debt will double and seniors will rightly wonder whether we can repay those debts to the trust funds. In the long run, a bankrupt federal government cannot send out any checks. Former Social Security commissioners recognize that the best thing we can do to preserve the program is to balance the budget.

Opponents of the balanced-budget amendment will also say it will require drastic cuts in other vital services. That's simply untrue. In fact, Washington's lack of discipline means our interest payment on the debt, the second largest item of government spending, crowds out our vital services. A balanced-budget amendment means we balance the budget, begin to pay down our debt and focus your tax dollars on America's priorities.

But we need your help to pass the balanced-budget amendment. We will be voting on it in just a few weeks, yet that's plenty of time for the status quo to launch a scare campaign to stop this important change. And unfortunately, President Clinton opposes our bipartisan effort, and will work to stop it. Only with your voice in the debate will we win this battle, for our future generation's sake.