Budget

I believe we need leadership from Washington on the tough issues. In order to save our children and grandchildren from a fiscal crisis, we must reduce spending and address the major drivers of our debt. The Republican majority in the House pledged to reduce our annual deficit, work toward eliminating our culture of big spending by banning earmarks, and implement a balanced budget.

In 1974, The Budget Control Act was signed into law. Among other things, this law set forth a policy that Congress was to annually adopt a budget resolution which would set the spending limits for the federal government. Since coming to Congress, I have voted for budget resolutions that would put our country on a sustainable fiscal path, address the major drivers of our debt, and preserve and protect critical safety net programs that provide health and retirement security for our seniors. However, not everyone in Washington agrees that we need to reduce spending, deficits, and the debt.

Our nation's debt has grown by more than $5 trillion since President Obama took office, and currently totals more than $16 trillion. Since coming into office, I have been working tirelessly to enact policies that force the federal government to spend your hard-earned tax dollars in a responsible manner. For instance, to address the federal government's spending problem, you may be interested to know that I voted in support of H.J.Res. 2, legislation proposing a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

While that legislation failed to receive the necessary two-thirds vote, the Republican majority in the House has been able to make serious progress in reducing spending. In fact, we have reduced discretionary spending to below 2008 levels (see chart). This is a small but important step in reining in out-of-control spending and debt.

Failure to seriously address these pressing issues would be to ignore the lessons of countries like Greece where the economy has collapsed due to a debt-fueled economic crisis, and unemployment is greater than 25%. Both parties in Washington are responsible for where we are today, this is not a time to cast blame and point fingers – this is a time for solutions, leadership, and action.

Please be assured that I will continue to work on addressing the major issues with our debt so we can put our country back on the path to economic recovery.For more information concerning my work and views on Budget issues, please contact my Washington, DC office.