[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 108 (Tuesday, July 19, 2011)]
[House]
[Pages H5164-H5165]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           CUT SPENDING, CAP SPENDING, AND BALANCE THE BUDGET

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Schilling) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. SCHILLING. Mr. Speaker, today we have an opportunity to take 
action and promote certainty in both our economy and the markets by 
passing H.R. 2560, the Cut, Cap, and Balance Act of 2012.
  Moody's and Standard & Poor's have warned the United States that our 
AAA credit rating is at risk if President Obama does not raise the debt 
ceiling by August 2. By passing Cut, Cap, and Balance, we can respond 
with confidence, create economic certainty, get our spending under 
control, and put America back to work.
  Mr. Speaker, 6\1/2\ months ago, I left life as a small business man, 
and have had the honor of representing the constituents of the 17th 
Congressional District of Illinois. I come to the floor this morning 
with some observations about where we've made progress and where we've 
met frustration. During this time, we have seen tangible results.
  This Congress repealed the onerous 1099 tax provision, which prevents 
our job creators from being bogged down in a nightmare of paperwork. 
This Congress cleaned up the mess left by last year's Congress by 
cutting billions in spending. This House has cut its own office budgets 
by 5 percent, saving taxpayers $35 million, and later this week, we'll 
cut our office budgets by another 6.4 percent. Most importantly, this 
House of Representatives fulfilled its responsibility by passing a 
budget. This budget cuts trillions of dollars in spending, but more 
importantly, it puts forth a plan to save Medicare instead of letting 
it go insolvent.
  As a new Member of this House, there has also been frustration with 
the process. Our national debt is $14.3 trillion. Each child born 
today, including my new granddaughter, Reagan, already owes $46,000 as 
their share of the national debt. Yet there are some Members of this 
body--97 to be exact--who wanted to give President Obama the authority 
to raise the debt limit by $2.4 trillion with no questions asked.
  Congress has raised the debt ceiling 51 times since 1978, and look 
where we are today. How can we see these next 2 weeks as anything but 
an opportunity to put our great country on a better fiscal path?
  I did not come here to get my name on a wall plaque. I came here so 
that when my newly born granddaughter, Reagan, asks me, ``Grandpa, what 
did you do to help fix this country?'' I'll be able to tell her that I 
was part of a class that changed the focus of this town from bloated 
spending to spending cuts. I'll be able to tell her that, today, we 
took a vote on legislation that does three very important things:
  It cuts spending. It promotes spending caps to 19.9 percent of GDP by 
2021. It makes the raising of the debt ceiling contingent upon a 
balanced budget amendment.
  We are only 2 weeks away from the deadline set by Mr. Geithner, but 
we've seen no plan from this administration or the Democrats in the 
House. Let me repeat that we have seen no plan from the administration 
or the Democrats in this House. We all know it's easier to criticize 
than to offer a plan of your

[[Page H5165]]

own. Now, before this plan to cut our spending and balance our budget 
is demagogued, let me tell you exactly how this thing works:
  This plan makes no changes to Social Security and Medicare. This plan 
makes no changes to the veterans' spending. This plan will cut spending 
by $111 billion in fiscal year 2012.
  We must use this debate as an opportunity to bring real change to 
Washington and to start paying down our debt. If you believe that 
cutting spending and providing a way forward for a balanced budget are 
commonsense ideas, vote for this legislation.

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