Radanovich Keeps Commitment to Fiscal Responsibility

Radanovich Keeps Commitment to Fiscal Responsibility
11/18/05

WASHINGTON - Congressman George Radanovich (R-Mariposa) today issued the following statement after the House passed the Deficit Reduction Act:

"The Deficit Reduction Act, H.R. 4241, is an historic piece of legislation that will provide $49.5 billion in savings over the next five years in the federal government's mandatory spending programs. These savings will help pay for the initial $62.5 billion in hurricane recovery Congress has already allotted.

"Reconciliation is not a ‘cut.' Reconciliation slows the rate of growth in mandatory spending by one tenth of one percent. Even with reconciliation, mandatory spending will still grow an average of 6.3 percent per year; much faster than our economy, and more than twice the rate of inflation. Entitlement spending currently consumes 54 percent of the total budget, and would balloon to 62 percent of the total budget if not for this legislation. Even our current economy, which is growing at a record pace, 3.2 percent for each of the last ten quarters, cannot keep up with these increases.

"The reduction of government waste, fraud and abuse has been a priority for me since I came to Congress; the Deficit Reduction Act is a major step in the right direction. H.R. 4241 updates the archaic entitlement programs, which have been left untouched for over 20 years. This Act assures the government is giving assistance to the Americans who truly need help by closing loopholes that wealthy Americans abuse who deplete their assets to receive benefits. H.R. 4241 also requires states to enforce current laws and prevent illegal aliens from colleting Medicaid. Hundreds of billions of taxpayer money is spent on mandatory programs each year, and each year a large amount of that money is wasted on fraudulent government assistance claims.

"Not only does the Deficit Reduction Act achieve savings of $49.5 billion, but it also includes a $1 billion (50 percent) increase to Low-Income Home Energy Assistance (LIHEAP) program. This money will help our poor and needy citizens during a winter that will prove to be financial straining due to an increase in oil and natural gas prices.

"While I am proud to have voted for The Deficit Reduction Act, there is still more this Congress can do to reduce the deficit, as well as reduce our foreign dependency on oil, and create more jobs. The initial draft of H.R. 4241 included a provision to allow drilling in the Artic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), as well as mining in the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). Unfortunately for the American people, the provision was stripped from the bill at the last minute. This was a terrible mistake, costing the American people savings of over $2.6 billion over a five-year period, a significant reduction in our dependency on foreign oil, over 200,000 jobs, and tremendous savings at the gas pump and in home heating."

http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/ca19_radanovich/deficit_reduction.html