Rokita Helps Lead Committee Passage of Budget

Statement

Rep. Todd Rokita, Vice Chair of the House Budget Committee, issued the following statement after the House Budget Committee voted to pass the Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 Budget entitled A Balanced Budget for a Stronger America.

"Today the Committee passed a visionary budget that achieves $7 trillion in deficit reduction over ten years through a combination of $6.5 trillion in savings and economic growth. It completely repeals Obamacare, reforms autopilot entitlement programs by strengthening Medicare and Social Security for future generations, and provides for a strong national defense.

"Washington, DC-based organizations claim that if we do not pass our budget, we can instead have an appropriations process at a slightly lower spending level of $1.040 trillion. This is simply not the case. If we do not pass a budget, we cannot begin the appropriations process, which is a valuable tool for inserting policy provisions that stop the overreach we have seen from this President.

"And, it is only through the budget process that Congress can craft reconciliation legislation that bypasses the Senate's onerous 60-vote threshold. Using reconciliation instructions in last year's budget, for example, we were able to bring ObamaCare repeal legislation to the President's desk.

"So, instead of these wins, without the budget we would be forced to pass a continuing resolution that would only save $3 billion, most of which would come from defense spending, with no policy gains. This is a scenario I am determined to avoid," said Rokita.

Source