[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 55 (Wednesday, April 1, 2009)]
[House]
[Page H4254]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    BUDGET AND FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY

  (Mr. WALZ asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. WALZ. Madam Speaker, I rise today to say a few words about our 
new budget that we'll be debating and voting on this week, and on 
fiscal responsibility.
  This country is in the midst of an economic crisis the likes of which 
few have ever seen. The Recovery Act this House passed in February was 
the first major step in our response to that crisis. It cannot be the 
last. We must not go back on the progress we have begun.
  The budget we will consider will address the crisis. It will begin 
the transformation of our economy so that it emerges stronger than 
ever, and we will do it in a way that gets us on the path toward fiscal 
balance. This is an incredibly difficult challenge.
  No one likes deficit spending. I come from southern Minnesota, a 
fiscally conservative place, and it's no accident that we have 
preserved ourselves from some of the worst excesses of this economy.
  But this plan and this budget before us have just the right mix. It 
invests in key priorities like health care, education, and energy 
independence to get our economy moving, and it cuts the deficit by two-
thirds by 2013. What is not fiscally responsible is to support the same 
policies that got us into this mess in the first place. That I will not 
support.
  If the alternative to this budget is basically the same plan, tax 
cuts to the super-rich and no efforts to address health care that we 
know does not work, that's not fiscal responsibility. That's the height 
of fiscal irresponsibility.
  On the other hand, if this budget will help create the vital economic 
growth that we have lost, I will support it.

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