[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 25 (Wednesday, February 16, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S765-S766]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            SPENDING FREEZE

  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, as the debate over government 
spending comes into focus this week, I think it is worth noting once 
again how this debate has shifted in recent weeks.
  After 2 years of bailouts and stimulus bills, we are finally talking 
about how much government should cut instead of how much it should 
spend.
  Obviously, the details matter. And we will be working those out in 
the weeks ahead. But the fact that this debate has shifted is a 
testament to the millions of Americans who insisted that their voices 
be heard on this issue. They have made a difference. It is important we 
acknowledge that.
  Now the question shifts to whether those in power will actually 
follow through in any serious way. Will Democratic leaders in 
Washington really do something to rein in a government we can no longer 
afford or will they just pretend to and hope the American people focus 
on their words instead of their actions.
  Unfortunately, the early signs are discouraging.
  The President's response to the growing national alarm about spending 
and debt was a proposal to freeze government spending at the already-
irresponsible levels that he himself has set over the past 2 years--
levels that, if maintained, will only intensify the current crisis by 
putting us deeper and deeper in debt.
  The consensus on the President's proposal is that it is both 
unserious and irresponsible, and that, despite what the President may 
say, he is not in fact treating this crisis with the seriousness it 
demands. The President even seemed to concede the point yesterday, 
saying his budget wasn't adequate to the task and suggesting that maybe 
Congress could do something more meaningful than he has.
  And what do we find in Congress?
  Well, we find one party in the House of Representatives making a 
genuine effort to cut spending and debt, and we find Democrats in the 
Senate announcing today that they intend to line up behind the 
President's timid proposal for a partial spending freeze.
  In other words, Democratic leaders in Congress intend to join the 
President

[[Page S766]]

in resigning themselves to a future of growing debts and deficits at a 
time when Americans are demanding cuts instead.
  So here is what we have learned this week: on the most pressing issue 
of the day, the President and Democratic leaders in Congress have 
decided to take a pass. They are either unwilling to admit that 
Washington needs to live within its means or they are completely 
unwilling to make the tough choices that will get us there.
  It is hard to believe, really.
  Americans are screaming at us to do something about a $14 trillion 
debt, the President proposes a budget that nearly doubles it, and 
Democrats clap their hands in approval.
  Maybe Democrats were so focused on passing their health care bill 
last year they didn't notice what has been going on in Europe.
  Maybe they were so focused on defending their stimulus that they 
missed a national uprising right here at home about the spending and 
the debt they have racked up.
  Maybe they missed the fact that while they were busy adding $3 
trillion to the debt, nearly 3 million Americans lost their jobs.
  Maybe they have been so focused on passing their agenda that they 
didn't notice the fact that the American people just repudiated their 
entire agenda.
  They need to get real.
  The men and women who were sent to Washington this year were not sent 
here on a mission to keep spending at the levels this administration 
has set. They were sent here to change the culture, to convince the 
administration that it needs to change its ways.
  Democrats in Washington seem to think they can wait it out; that if 
they just agree to freeze current spending levels in place people will 
think they are listening. Don't they realize that current levels of 
spending are the reason we just had the biggest wave election in a 
generation?
  The senior Senator from New York seems to think that anything short 
of freezing current spending levels is extreme.
  I will tell you what is extreme: extreme is to insist in the middle 
of a jobs and debt crisis that government has to spend a trillion 
dollars more than we take in every year.
  That is extreme.
  Extreme is a view of the world that says government will not live 
within its means, even when the American people demand it.
  Extreme is a view of the world that says the survival of this or that 
program is more important than the survival of the American dream 
itself.
  Extreme is telling our children they may have to do without because 
we refuse to do with less.
  So I suggest to my Democratic colleagues that they stop thinking 
about what they can get away with and start thinking about what is 
actually needed to solve this crisis.
  I suggest they start listening to the American people who are telling 
us in no uncertain terms that a freeze will not cut it.
  I yield the floor.

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