[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 49 (Tuesday, March 24, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1739-S1740]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           A BALANCED BUDGET

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, throughout the Obama era, families 
across the country have had to make a lot of tough decisions. Lost jobs 
or lower wages meant doing more with less and refocusing on what truly 
mattered. It wasn't easy, but families made the best of difficult 
situations in order to position themselves for greater success in the 
better days to come.
  Meanwhile, in Washington, we saw record levels of overspending, 
trillion-dollar deficits, and historic levels of debt. Hard-working 
families made tough choices while the Obama administration and its 
allies aimed to keep right on overspending. It was more than just 
wrong; many would say it was unfair.
  But, today, Democrats can join together with Republicans to help 
rectify the inequity. Instead of having Washington play by one set of 
rules and the middle class by another, we can force Washington to start 
confronting very big challenges, just as everyone else has to do.
  We can force Washington to focus on serving the middle class again 
instead of the other way around, and we can begin by passing the 
balanced budget before the Senate today.
  This balanced budget pivots on an essential truth--that Washington 
has a spending problem, not a revenue problem--and strives to make 
government more accountable, more efficient, and more accessible. It 
represents a significant step forward when it comes to solving our 
country's many fiscal challenges.
  But that is just one reason this balanced budget is so important. 
Here is another: It will help promote economic growth right now and 
promote sustained opportunity well into the future.
  It aims to do so in a variety of ways; one is promoting energy 
advancement as an engine for growth. The energy revolution is truly 
historic. It is creating thousands of jobs, lowering costs for the 
middle class, and helping lift many into that middle class. This budget 
embraces that progress. It aims to remove needless barriers to 
environmentally responsible energy development. I expect other Members 
to come to the floor to discuss the energy component in greater detail 
today.
  I also expect Members will come to discuss funding America's national 
security needs. As we know, there are numerous threats facing our 
country--terrorism practiced by groups such as ISIL, Al Qaeda and its 
associates; Iranian efforts to advance its ballistic missile program, 
pursue a nuclear weapon, and sponsor terror; and Russian and Chinese 
attempts to expand their spheres of influence, which will require us to 
modernize our force.
  We must eventually give the Defense Department the certainty it needs 
to modernize the force. Members continue to work toward solutions for 
funding defense in the most robust and predictable way possible.
  I commend Chairman Enzi and Senator Lindsey Graham for providing us 
with a path forward in the interim. Their proposal represents a good-
faith compromise to begin the legislative process for the Defense 
authorization bill we will consider later this year--when the 
additional overseas contingency funds can be prudently allocated 
against the actual procurement and modernization needs of our military, 
if only for the coming fiscal year.
  Short of revising the BCA, this is the best strategy to keep faith 
with our armed services, and this is the best option we currently have 
for leaving President Obama's successor in a better position to face so 
many global challenges.
  Every budget, obviously, is a compromise. This one is surely that, 
but it is a good compromise. It embraces growth. It reaches for a more 
prosperous energy future. It positions our Nation for a better outcome 
than we have seen otherwise on defense. It is bold, yet balanced, and 
it aims to change Washington's focus away from the needs of big-
spending politicians and toward the aspirations of hard-working 
Americans who are very right to demand a government that is efficient, 
accountable, and focused on growth.

[[Page S1740]]

  This budget is all of those things, and I urge our colleagues to 
support it.

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