Sen. Toomey To Oppose Debt Deal

Statement

U.S. Senator Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) announced that he will be voting against the Budget Control Act and issued the following statement:

"Our government is heading for a fiscal crisis," Sen. Toomey said. "We have doubled spending since 2000. Our deficits are now more than $1.4 trillion per year, and our debt has reached a stunning $14.3 trillion.

"Unfortunately, the debt ceiling deal announced last night does nothing to deal with the path of our government's unsustainable deficit spending. For fiscal year 2012, this legislation will only cut two-tenths of 1 percent of total spending. Not only will our debt grow each year under this plan, it will continue to grow even as a percentage of our economy. Finally, I am concerned that the long-term cuts over the next decade will not materialize. All Congress has to do to override this bill's spending restraints in the future is pass another law that overrides them. If Congress is truly serious about cutting spending, it would mandate serious spending cuts in next year's budget - the only year in which cuts are actually guaranteed.

"While I appreciate the hard work and effort that has gone into this deal, it simply does not contain meaningful spending cuts, nor does it put us on a sustainable fiscal path. Therefore, I will be voting against the legislation tomorrow."

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