According to the Congressional Budget Office, our national deficit equaled 9.8 percent of GDP at the end of 2011. It is simply unacceptable for our country to be functioning under this type of financial standard. Because of this, the first pieces of legislation I signed onto were two versions of a Balanced Budget Amendment, both sponsored by Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA).
One of my top priorities in Congress will be to force the federal government to live within its means, just like every single American family and business. We must also find a solution to cap spending now, so that we do not repeat the same bad spending habits that produced our current problem.