Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 2014

Floor Speech

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Mr. HENSARLING. I thank the gentleman for yielding, and thank him for his leadership on this critical issue.

Mr. Chairman, we have heard from so many of our colleagues that budgets are about priorities, and I believe this to be true. So what does it say about Democrats' priorities when the President is almost 2 months late in submitting his budget, and Senate Democrats have taken over 4 years to even bother to write a budget?

I suppose it says, Mr. Chairman, that budgets have a way of getting in the way of Democrats as they wish to tax us more, as they wish to borrow more money from China, money our kids have to pay back, and budgets get in the way of Democrats wanting to spend more of our money on a Washington insider economy that doesn't work for the rest of us.

We know that ObamaCare just raised $1 trillion of taxes, much of it falling on working families. The so-called ``fiscal cliff'' raised taxes almost another $700 billion, much of it falling on small business owners who can no longer offer raises, promotions, or even hire new workers. And now all these Democrat budgets are looking for an additional trillion dollars of tax increase on top of that. That comes out to about $9,000 for every working household in America.

Mr. Chairman, that is not fair, that is not helpful to this struggling economy. No nation in the history of the world has ever taxed its way into prosperity. America will not be the first.

Mr. Chairman, no nation has ever spent its way into prosperity; yet the Democrat budgets continue a spending spree that is driving us towards national bankruptcy. A day of reckoning is coming. You cannot have Federal programs going at 2 percent, 4 percent, 6 percent, 8 percent when the new reality under this President is 1 1/2 to 2 percent economic growth, and the family budget, which ultimately pays for the Federal budget, is stagnant.

The families that I represent in the Fifth Congressional District of Texas have several concerns. They want to feel more secure in their jobs. They want to quit seeing their paychecks shrink in the face of higher prices. They want a healthier economy where their success is dependent upon how well they work, not on who they know in Washington. In other words, they don't want a Washington insider economy where they can only succeed if Democrats choose to invest in them.

Mr. Chairman, not every American belongs to a government employee labor union that supported the President in the last election. Not every American has a failing bankrupt solar energy company. So for the rest of them, these hardworking Americans, they want an opportunity, and they want a Main Street economy that, if they work hard and they play by the rules, every American can succeed.

And, finally, the people I represent believe it is just immoral, immoral to saddle our children with this trillion dollars of debt. That is why I am proud to support both the Republican Study Committee budget and the House Republican budget. They will help bring us a vibrant, competitive economy through pro-growth tax reform, a whole new Tax Code which is fairer, flatter, simpler, and more competitive, a budget that is guaranteed to grow jobs and paychecks. And contrary to the Democrat budget, no tax increases on anybody.

We quit spending money we don't have, and I know my Democratic colleague is very sensitive about the balance issue because they have a budget which never balances. The American people demand one; the Republican Study Committee and the House Republican budget deliver it. For a fairer economy, for a balanced budget, for a greater future for our children, we need to support these Republican budgets.

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