美众议院周五表决平衡预算修正案

美国众议院星期五就一项可能迫使国会平衡预算的法案进行投票。与此同时，一个跨党派的委员会正为在下周关键截止日期之前确定预算削减项目而绞尽脑汁。

The U.S. House of Representatives votes Friday on legislation that would force Congress to balance its budget, while a bipartisan committee scrambles to identify budget cuts ahead of a key deadline next week.
    
The legislation would amend the U.S. Constitution to require that Congress not spend more than it receives in any given fiscal year. The vote is expected Friday afternoon. It is unclear if the measure, which is being pushed by majority Republicans, will pass.
   
Supporters say the amendment is necessary to stop the country's ballooning national debt, which passed $15 trillion earlier this week.
   
Meanwhile, the 12-member, congressional "supercommittee" has until midnight on Wednesday to cut $1.2 trillion in federal spending over the next decade or risk massive automatic cuts to defense and domestic programs beginning in January 2013. Congressional aides say the committee is making little progress on a comprehensive deal to reduce the deficit.
   
President Barack Obama, a Democrat, has signaled a willingness to restructure costly programs that provide income and health care to retirees. Mr. Obama has said he hopes the leaders of the committee will do what is necessary in the coming days to agree on a plan.
   
Critics argue that the drastic spending cuts needed to balance the budget would negatively impact an already weak economy.