“I ask that we come to a solution, deal with the issues of the incredible amount of debt, keep the government going, pass what has passed the House, fund the troops, cut the spending and get this to the President to sign.”
WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) spoke on the floor of the U.S. Senate about Washington’s out of control spending and the Republican plan to keep the government from shutting down.
Excerpts of his remarks are below:
“I come to the floor today as so many of my colleagues have to discuss the situation that we find ourselves in and many ask what has happened? Why are we here?
“Well, there are two different situations that we’re in. One is that we’re in a situation because of a budget that should have been passed seven months ago when the Democrats were in charge of the House, in charge of the Senate and in the White House. That budget—a responsible budget was never passed.
“And that is what we are dealing with today in one part. The bigger part of how we got into this situation is that we are a nation in significant debt.
“We owe a remarkably large amount of money— $14 trillion is the number that is consistently discussed. Mr. President, that’s a great concern to the people of America, people concerned about our national security our financial security.
“And as families across this country, we live within our means. We balance our budgets every year. I’m from Wyoming where according to our Constitution we must balance our budget every year. And we do.
“So here we are with this situation where we’re looking at a potential of a shutdown of the government because this government has maxed out its credit card.
“Others may decide to no longer extend credit to us and it has come down to the final hour. Every day this government spends $4 billion more than it takes in. Last month Washington spent eight times as much money as it took in.
“We have overspent. Our problem isn’t that we’re taxed too little—it’s that we spend too much.
“We do have a bill that has been passed by the House of Representatives to keep the government open, to keep the government functioning, and I am ready right now to vote for that bill.
“Well, what has the President of the United States said about that? The President has threatened to veto that bill. He said he would veto a bill that would temporarily extend and keep the government open for one week. So apparently the President isn’t interested in keeping this government open for the next week, through tonight at midnight.
“I would wish he would take a different tactic and say, let’s continue to work on the overall problem but keep the government functioning. You know, families all around this country—and I talk to people every weekend in Wyoming—they’re worried about the cost and the quality of their own lives.
“I had a call yesterday in my office from a man in the military saying, why aren’t they going to continue to fund the military? Well, that’s part of the bill passed in the House.
“Think of each and every one of those young men and women who are in uniform defending our country. Why would the President say, if you pass what the House has passed, which does cut some spending and keeps the military functioning, I will veto it?
“Now remember, all we’re talking about is this year’s budget. We’re now at seven months into the fiscal year. This is something that should have been done last year. But the Democrats have absolutely failed to live up to their obligations of passing a budget.
“I ask that we come to a solution, deal with the issues of the incredible amount of debt, keep the government going, pass what has passed the House, fund the troops, cut the spending and get this to the President to sign.”
###