Fiscal Responsibility

Floor Speech

Ms. KILROY. Mr. Speaker, in my household, just like the households of my neighbors and people in my community in Central Ohio, when we want to spend money, we have to figure out whether it fits within our budget. And as a local official, we also needed to make sure that our budgets were balanced and that we had the right kind of priorities in our budgets as we decided our spending plan. That's why passing pay-as-you-go legislation is so important.

It worked during the Clinton administration. We had to decide, Congress had to decide what the important priorities were, and it left a budget surplus at the end of the Clinton administration. During the Bush years, we saw the PAYGO legislation expire, and we saw that instead of making sure that we paid attention to the right kind of priorities, millions were given in tax cuts to the wealthiest, and our President was left with a budget deficit to confront.

Right now, if we pass PAYGO legislation, it will make sure that we can afford to fund America's most important priorities: Education, clean energy, jobs. And I hope that our colleagues across the aisle will join us in pay-as-you-go legislation.

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