Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 2013

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. GUINTA. Mr. Chairman, thank you for the opportunity to speak on this substitute amendment.

Mr. Chairman, I find what's going on in this country with the level of spending in America outrageous. People in this country have sent us here to do a job, to be leaders, and to solve problems. We have a current deficit of roughly $1.3 trillion, something that is so high that so many people can't even comprehend that number. We have a long-term debt approaching $16 trillion.

This substitute today continues that path of spending money that we simply don't have. I do thank the gentleman for at least offering a proposal--something that has not been done in the Senate--so we can debate in, I think, a reasonable way what the path is that his budget would propose versus the Path to Prosperity.

This proposal, the substitute proposal, does three things. Number one, it spends $3.7 trillion of roughly $1 trillion-ongoing deficits. Secondly, over the 10-year window, it spends $44.7 trillion, continuing the long-term debt that we have found ourselves in currently. Finally, it doesn't solve the significant drivers of our debt, and it doesn't allow for an opportunity to preserve and protect Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security.

The country wants us to be honest, the country wants leadership, and we continue to provide that in the House Budget Committee with the Path to Prosperity. I remind people that budget proposes stability and predictability by cutting $5.3 trillion in spending, by reducing the tax on both individual and corporate to give us a fair, level playing field and predictability for the long term. And it reduces our short-term deficit about $700 billion next year and continues to ensure we get on a path to balance. A balanced budget is the dream of every American, and we offer that opportunity in the Path to Prosperity.

With that, I urge a ``no'' vote on this amendment.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source