[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 149 (Wednesday, October 23, 2013)]
[House]
[Pages H6681-H6682]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   AMERICA'S OUT-OF-CONTROL SPENDING

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
North Carolina (Mr. Holding) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. HOLDING. Mr. Speaker, in just a few short months, we will again 
find ourselves debating how to not shut down the Federal Government. 
Our Nation's fiscal woes are not temporary. In fact, they have plagued 
us for many years, and we have got to stop trying to solve these 
problems with temporary solutions.
  The fact is, Mr. Speaker, we are now $17 trillion in debt, and our 
government continues to spend and spend and spend. Last Thursday, our 
Nation's debt jumped $328 billion in just 1 day. This surpassed the 
previous high set 2 years ago by over $100 billion. It is time Congress 
breaks this pattern. We do not want to be a Nation drowning in debt 
but, rather, one of economic leadership throughout the world, pro-
growth policies.
  Mr. Speaker, we simply cannot borrow 40 cents of every dollar we 
spend. It is simply not the way to run a government, a business, or a 
family budget. Yet the Federal Government continues to borrow without 
addressing what got us here in the first place, which is out-of-control 
spending.
  Mr. Speaker, the deal agreed to last week didn't do a single thing to 
cut spending or tackle the real drivers of our debt; and if we do not 
change this, we will never get ourselves out of the fiscal rut but, 
instead, find ourselves repeating history over and over and over again, 
governing and spending by continuing resolutions. Rather than passing 
temporary spending bills and short-term extensions to the debt ceiling, 
we should be working to pass all 12 appropriation bills and a real 
budget. This doesn't need to be a deal at the eleventh hour. If we go 
through a regular budgetary process, we will most certainly find areas 
to eliminate wasteful spending, shore up entitlement spending, and 
achieve comprehensive tax reform.
  Mr. Speaker, the Federal Government is already spending too much, and 
ObamaCare will only make things worse. It is estimated that ObamaCare 
will increase taxes over $1 trillion and add $6 trillion to the 
deficit. Putting aside the countless policy issues associated with 
ObamaCare, the law, from a purely numerical economic standpoint, is a 
prime example of out-of-control spending. Overall, ObamaCare is 
expected to increase health care spending

[[Page H6682]]

by $621 billion over the next 10 years. We cannot afford this. Our 
children cannot afford this, and the economy will crumble underneath 
it.
  Mr. Speaker, the American people are frustrated with seeing their 
elected officials in Washington sit on either side of the wall and 
refuse to make real spending cuts. It is time to sit down and have a 
conversation about how we get our fiscal house in order and get our 
spending addiction under control. We cannot continue to jeopardize our 
economy and our Nation's future by spending more than we take in.

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