Budget Control Act of 2011

Floor Speech

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Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to offer my support for the Budget Control Act of 2011, what I like to call Cut, Cap, and Balance 3.0.

Last week the House passed Cut, Cap, and Balance 1.0 in bipartisan fashion. Not surprisingly, Senator Reid and his Democrat colleagues in the Senate failed to even allow for a vote. Speaker Boehner then offered Cut, Cap, and Balance 2.0, which, according to the CBO, failed to generate sufficient savings to accompany the debt ceiling increase. So the Speaker went back to the drawing board, found more cuts and reductions, and I applaud him for that.

Today the House will once again ensure that our Nation will take another step by enacting legislation that cuts spending more than any increase in the debt ceiling, does not raise taxes on America's families and job creators during a time of economic hardship, and ensures an up-or-down vote on the balanced budget amendment to the Constitution. And I thank my constituents and the small business owners who have called to encourage me in this process to say let's get this job done.

Let it be known that this is merely a small foundational step to ensure that we put this Nation on the road to fiscal health, and it is historic. By passing the Budget Control Act, we will take away President Barack Obama's blank check. For the first time, debt limit legislation will cut spending, lock in these cuts, cap future spending, does not raise taxes, ensures that balanced budget amendment vote, and keeps our attention on the Nation's fiscal problems.

House Republicans are saying the buck stops here. Let's get to work addressing our Nation's fiscal woes and cutting the spending problem in Washington, D.C.

For that, I urge my colleagues to vote "yes'' on the Budget Control Act.

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