Providing for Consideration of H.R. Continuing Appropriations and Border Security Enhancement Act, 2024

Floor Speech

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Mr. HUIZENGA. Madam Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman yielding.

The short-term stop-gap government funding measure we are debating here today not only keeps our government open, which is very important, it responsibly reduces spending, makes critical reforms to secure the border, and, importantly, contains the text of my bipartisan bill to establish a fiscal debt commission.

The Fiscal Commission Act of 2023 now included in this bill will create a commission that proposes recommendations to finally tackle our Nation's unsustainable debt trajectory in the medium and the long term.

Furthermore, both Chambers of Congress will be required, Madam Chair, to take a vote on the commission's proposal.

With this key provision, Congress can no longer kick the can down the road on the rapidly growing threat of our national debt.

Given the bipartisan support of this legislation upon introduction, it is clear that both Republicans and Democrats understand that time is running out.

The Federal Government is already spending more on interest on the national debt than it spends on children--something that my colleagues I know are very concerned about because they talk about it. The interest is already nearly more than what we spend on defense, and we are rapidly approaching a point where interest on the debt will be more than Social Security and Medicare.

In building the Fiscal Commission Act of 2023, we learned from past commission mistakes and gave this legislation real teeth, practicality, urgency, and clear goals for Congress to come face-to-face with this massive challenge.

Specifically, the commission is made up of 16 commissioners that include 12 Members of Congress, as well as 4 private-sector experts that are selected by leaders of both the House and the Senate.

The commission is tasked with identifying policies to improve our fiscal situation in the medium term and to achieve a sustainable debt- to-GDP ratio in the long term.

Importantly, it will put forward solutions to ensure the solvency of our 20-plus trust funds for decades to come. The commission will also propose recommendations designed to balance the budget at the earliest reasonable date, including at minimum stabilizing the debt-to-GDP ratio at or below 100 percent within 10 years--all while addressing growth of direct spending and the gap between revenues and expenditures.

The proposal will then come to Congress in the days shortly after the 2024 election where the House and Senate must take an up-or-down vote on the recommendations without amendment and without delay.

I am proud to say that joining me in the introduction of the Fiscal Commission Act of 2023 there were an even number of Republicans and Democrats.

With this inclusion in the continuing resolution before us today, I urge all my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to keep our government open this week and secure our Nation's fiscal future for generations to come.

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