[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 26 (Thursday, February 16, 2012)]
[House]
[Pages H806-H807]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               THE BUDGET

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Georgia (Mr. Woodall) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. WOODALL. Mr. Speaker, I've come down here to talk about the 
budget. I am a freshman on the Budget Committee. The President's budget 
arrived on Monday of this week. Here in the Budget Committee, we had 
the acting OMB Director with us yesterday, we have the Treasury 
Secretary with us today, and we're exploring this budget.
  Now, I must tell you, Mr. Speaker, I may be a hard core conservative 
Republican from the Deep South, but I am grateful to this President for 
releasing a budget. A budget is a moral document, Mr. Speaker. It is a 
moral document that talks about what your priorities are for us, as a 
Nation.
  Our rule book for the country is the Constitution of the United 
States. That's the rule book by which everything we do in this Nation 
must comply. The rule book for our finances is the budget that we pass 
each year. As we all know, as it has been said dozens of times before, 
the Senate has not passed a budget in over 1,000 days. The majority 
leader has said he was not going to pass a budget again this year. The 
Democratic Budget Committee chairman said, But I promised to pass a 
budget this year. The majority leader said, Well, you can pass a 
budget, but I'm not going to have it considered on the House floor. 
That's wrong. What the President did in releasing a budget this week, 
that's right.
  I will tell you, there are a couple of things that need to be in a 
budget, Mr. Speaker. The budget needs to talk about spending restraint. 
I don't think there's a family in this country that believes the 
Federal Government is spending too little. Spending restraint must be a 
component of every budget. The President laid out his ideas this week.
  Repairing the safety net, Mr. Speaker, making sure that the safety 
net that families depend on when hard times come, making sure that that 
safety net is resilient, that it is, in fact, a spring and not a 
cushion, that it is a pathway out instead of a lifestyle choice, those 
things are important. The budget should contain those.
  Entitlement reform, Mr. Speaker, and I want to say earned 
entitlements, because the men and women of this country have been 
paying 15.3 percent of their income if they're in my generation, a 
little less in earlier generations, but they have been paying out of 
their paychecks to gain access to Social Security and Medicare. But 
those two programs, as we all know, are underfunded, are headed towards 
financial crisis, and a budget should talk about what your solutions 
are to restore faith in those programs for all Americans.
  And tax reform, Mr. Speaker, tax reform, there's not a person in this 
country, Mr. Speaker, that likes the Tax

[[Page H807]]

Code the way it is. There's not a Congressman in this room who, if they 
sat down with a blank sheet of paper today, would craft this United 
States Tax Code to govern our Nation. It's in need of reform, and we 
can do that.
  But, Mr. Speaker, of safety restraint, of repairing the safety net, 
of entitlement reform, and of tax reform, the President's budget was 
devoid of any--of any. Nothing to save Medicare for future generations. 
Nothing to protect Social Security for these generations and further. 
Nothing to change those safety net programs, Mr. Speaker, to ensure 
that they are that hand up instead of that handout. Nothing to build 
upon our work ethic that we have in this country by reforming the Tax 
Code and bringing businesses back to American shores.
  I encourage folks to go and look at that budget. They can see it at 
www.omb.gov. That's the Office of Management and Budget. It's the White 
House Web site where they can view that budget. I encourage them to 
tune in to the Budget Committee, Mr. Speaker. We are, again, having 
hearings on that budget all week and will continue into the future.
  And then I encourage folks to look at the process that happens here 
in this body, Mr. Speaker, where absolutely any Member of Congress can 
introduce absolutely any budget that expresses their priorities, an 
open process where absolutely all budget ideas are considered. It is a 
hallmark of this institution, Mr. Speaker. I welcomed it last year and 
was proud of the result of this debate. It was once the Paul Ryan 
budget, then the House Budget Committee budget, then the House budget 
for all of the land. I look forward to that process continuing again 
this year.

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