Congressman Bob Gibbs Statement on Debt Ceiling Vote

Statement

Congressman Bob Gibbs (R-OH) released the following statement after voting today to prevent a default by cutting spending, implementing budget controls and increasing fiscal accountability. The Budget Control Act of 2011 also guarantees a vote on a balanced budget amendment in the House and Senate for the first time in fifteen years.

"The amended Budget Control Act of 2011 is not the ultimate solution to our nation's spending-driven debt crisis, but it shows how much we've changed the terms of the debate in this town. Last year at this time, Washington was debating "how much more can we spend." But in November, the American people sent a new freshman class to Congress to change the terms of the debate to "how much we can cut."

"This bill reflects over $2 trillion in spending cuts and represents a victory against the status quo of Washington. This is the first time there have been significant cuts associated with the increase of the debt ceiling and it was done without increasing taxes.

"Since day one, I have said I would not support a debt limit increase without significant spending cuts and reforms to reduce our debt. This realisticapproach allows us to prevent the United States from going into default for the first time in history and cuts government spending by more than it increases the debt limit. It also imposes tough caps to restrain future spending without any job-killing tax hikes and guarantees the American people a vote in both the House and Senate on a balanced budget amendment. A Balanced Budget Amendment is a long-term solution that will end the fiscal insanity in Washington and improve the long term health of this Nation.

"This bill is by no means a complete or perfect solution and we must continue fighting to get our budget into balance. But it does take important steps towards finally getting runaway federal spending under control and will protect our economy from default without raising taxes on families and the small businesses we're counting on to create jobs."

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