Jordan Tackles Runaway Spending in Federal Budget

Press Release

In his first full-day hearing as a member of the House Budget Committee, Congressman Jim Jordan (R-Urbana) offered amendments to reduce the proposed amount of spending in the $3.1 trillion Democrat budget bill.

"This budget proposes to spend an astonishing $100,000 a second, $6 million a minute, $350 million an hour--every day for a year," Jordan said. "Our economy simply cannot sustain this obscene amount of spending."

Jordan's amendment would have held discretionary spending (except for national defense, homeland security, and veterans' programs) to current levels. The move would have saved $22 billion this year and $277 billion over five years.

Committee Democrats opposed Jordan's amendment, which was defeated on a party-line vote. The Democrat budget was subsequently approved along party lines.

"Future generations will be faced with unsustainable growth in entitlement programs if we don't get federal spending under control," said Jordan. "Acting now to reduce spending, cut taxes, and eliminate deficits will help us best prepare for the challenges that lie ahead."

Jordan also offered an amendment--also defeated along party lines--to create a modern-day "Grace Commission" to identify waste and fraud in the federal budget. The original Grace Commission, named for its chairman, industrialist J. Peter Grace, was formed by President Ronald Reagan in 1982. It identified $424 billion in government waste.

"Families and taxpayers already face enough challenges in this economy," said Jordan. "They deserve a government that is doing everything it can to put more money in their pockets and help them succeed. The time for the federal government to begin tightening its belt is now."

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