Rocky Mount Telegram - Holding Says Debt Hurts U.S.

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By Darla Slipke

Congress has to find ways to cut spending and practice fiscal responsibility, U.S. Rep. George Holding said this week during a visit to Rocky Mount.

Not balancing the budget and running deficits is the cruelest thing Congress can do to people with low incomes, middle incomes and high incomes, Holding, R-13th District, said Wednesday.

"If we have these debts hanging over us, this is not going to be the land of opportunity that everyone has grown to believe it is," Holding said.

Many young people today don't believe they will have the opportunities that their parents had, Holding said.

"That is a terrible thing," he said. "And it will come true unless we get our fiscal house in order."

When he ran for office in 2012, Holding said he believed the biggest challenge facing the nation was its fiscal problems.

Now several months into the job, he said he still believes that financial challenges are the nation's biggest problem.

Holding said he is hopeful that there is light at the end of the tunnel, based on a couple factors.

He said he believes the numbers will drive people together.

"We can't deny that there's a spending problem any longer," Holding said.

He said he is willing to work with anyone who wants to tackle the nation's spending problem.

Another indicator that there is light at the end of the tunnel is the fact that the U.S. Senate passed its first budget in four years, Holding said.

The U.S. House and the U.S. Senate budgets are diametrically opposed, Holding said, but they at least provide a starting point for budget negotiations.

The Senate budget passed by one vote, and the Senate had to "twist a lot of arms" to get it to pass, Holding said.

"They put their cards on the table, but it's also pretty clear that they don't have an overwhelming majority behind that," he said. "That's a good sign for going into conference that they're going to be willing to compromise."

The world is watching to see how the United States handles its fiscal problems, Holding said.

If the U.S. doesn't demonstrate to the world that it can get its financial house in order and that it has a pathway to balancing the budget and controlling the debt, the nation will face tremendous challenges, Holding said.

He said North Korea is looking at the United States' economic situation and whether the U.S. is willing to commit the financial resources to stand firm against North Korea.

"I think other countries that are belligerent are thinking the same thing," Holding said. " ... They're saying America is too much in debt to stand firm against our aggression."

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