[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 81 (Wednesday, May 15, 2019)]
[House]
[Pages H3830-H3835]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   REPUBLICAN STUDY COMMITTEE BUDGET

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 3, 2019, the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Banks) is recognized 
for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.


                             General Leave

  Mr. BANKS. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their 
remarks.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Indiana?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. BANKS. Madam Speaker, the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of 
Staff, Mike Mullen, called our national debt ``the single biggest 
threat to national security.''
  Since then, we have added more than $7 trillion more in red ink. Our 
national debt today stands at $22 trillion, and it is only getting 
worse.
  The Congressional Budget Office is projecting trillion-dollar 
deficits in perpetuity. These deficits will leave future generations 
like my daughter's generation saddled with higher taxes, stagnant 
growth, and a lower standard of living. This is simply unacceptable.
  Thankfully, pro-growth policies implemented by President Trump and 
congressional Republicans have led to a booming economy with 3.2 
percent GDP growth and unemployment below 4 percent.
  Our strong economy provides Congress a unique opportunity to tackle 
this problem, but bold leadership is required to do so.
  Unfortunately, it is clear that there will be no such leadership from 
the Democrats. The Democrats have failed to perform the most basic 
function of government, which is passing a budget. In fact, they have 
not even bothered to bring a budget to the floor for a vote. Why, you 
might ask? Because the radical left is now in control of the Democratic 
agenda and demanding trillions of dollars in additional spending for 
programs like the Green New Deal, which aims to eliminate everything 
from air travel to requiring every single building in the United States 
to be rebuilt or upgraded, banning farting cows, and will cost upwards 
of $92 trillion to implement; or, another budget-busting initiative 
like Medicare-for-all, which would increase government spending by $32 
trillion over the next decade.

                              {time}  1715

  Think about that for a moment. The Democrats look at $22 trillion in 
debt,

[[Page H3831]]

trillion-dollar deficits, and think that we aren't spending enough 
already of our taxpayer dollars.
  Thankfully, the Republican Study Committee is here to do something 
about it, and we have taken the challenge head-on.
  As chairman of the Republican Study Committee's Budget and Spending 
Task Force, I am very proud to have worked with a task force of eight 
of my colleagues, as well as the rest of our 141-member strong 
Republican Study Committee, to produce the ``Preserving American 
Freedom'' budget resolution.
  This budget reduces government debt by cutting $12.6 trillion in 
wasteful spending over the next 10 years.
  It ensures permanent solvency for Medicare and Social Security so 
that these programs will exist for the seniors who rely on them today, 
as well as for future generations.
  It repeals ObamaCare and gives unprecedented control to the States to 
design healthcare programs that fit the unique needs of their citizens.
  It reforms welfare to move more people into employment with a sense 
of purpose and self-reliance.
  Finally, it matches President Trump's commitment to national security 
by fully funding the border wall and making the necessary investments 
in our military to ensure the safety of the American people from 
foreign threats.
  The ``Preserving American Freedom'' budget is the only serious 
proposal from Congress to address Washington's addiction to spending 
and a bloated and growing national debt. I am very proud to have led 
the RSC's effort to tackle this generational challenge and ensure a 
brighter future for all Americans.
  Madam Speaker, tonight, we are going to hear from some of my 
colleagues about this very important budget proposal and what we can do 
to address fiscal responsibility so desperately needed in Washington, 
D.C.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Cloud).
  Mr. CLOUD. Madam Speaker, I am rising also to join my coworkers in 
advocating for fiscal responsibility as Congress seeks to craft a 
budget.
  The RSC budget is bold, and I am pleased to see it include such 
proposals as requiring the Congressional Budget Office to account for 
debt servicing in the cost estimates they prepare for Congress. My 
bill, H.R. 638, the Cost Estimates Improvement Act, would do that very 
thing.
  Before legislation passes either the House or the Senate, lawmakers 
should know how much it will actually cost. This would seem to go 
without saying, but lawmakers consistently overlook one key cost, the 
new interest payments their spending will create. Folks back home 
understand how important this is, that we should be honest about the 
true cost of spending.
  If you were budgeting for monthly car payments and only considered 
the list price of the car itself and didn't factor in the extra cost of 
interest payments, you would later discover that the total cost is more 
than you could afford. Unfortunately, this is exactly what Congress 
does when considering new spending.
  Congress relies on the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office and 
the Joint Committee on Taxation to estimate the cost of legislation. 
But Congress does not require either of them to include the cost of 
servicing the additional debt that is created by authorizing or 
reauthorizing spending. This results in an incomplete picture of the 
total actual cost.
  Servicing national debt is becoming a substantial part of Federal 
spending. Within just a few years, our Nation will be spending more on 
interest payments than on the entire Department of Defense. This should 
alarm all of us, as this will increasingly crowd out other spending 
priorities.
  I introduced H.R. 638, the Cost Estimates Improvement Act, to address 
these problems by requiring the Congressional Budget Office and the 
Joint Committee on Taxation to add the cost of servicing the debt to 
the cost estimates of any future legislation.
  In essence, Congress is not considering the comprehensive budgetary 
impact of spending and tax proposals. This distorts congressional 
decisionmaking in favor of more spending and debt accumulation.
  Congress routinely ignores the true costs and overstates the benefits 
of new spending. The American people have to account for the cost of 
debt in their family budgets, and providing Congress with accurate cost 
estimates that include the cost of debt servicing is a commonsense 
reform that would hold Congress to the same standard, forcing lawmakers 
to reckon with the actual cost of raising our national debt.
  Mr. BANKS. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. 
Mitchell), my good friend and fellow classmate of the last 
congressional class, a great conservative leader in the Congress.
  Mr. MITCHELL. Madam Speaker, I thank the budget action team chair for 
this fine work and for yielding time.
  We should be debating right now in Congress a budget. We should be 
debating ideas from the Democrats, ideas from the Republicans, the RSC 
budget. We should be doing that to develop a road map for the current 
year and for future years for appropriations, what our priorities are.
  You will note that we are talking about it, but it is pretty quiet 
down here today. Why? Because, unfortunately, the leadership of the 
Democratic Party has been unable to produce a budget. They can't agree, 
even among themselves, what a budget should be.
  I spent 35 years in private business. Budgets are pretty basic. 
Without them, I don't know how you operate. Apparently, we are going to 
try, and that is unfortunate.
  My focus tonight is on the Federal budgeting and appropriations 
process and what we need to do to fix it. We can fix individual items 
in our budget, but long term, we need to fix the process, or we are, in 
fact, as noted earlier by Mr. Cloud, doomed for some pretty dire 
outcomes.

  The Federal budget and appropriations restraints under current law 
are totally ineffective. They simply do not work. And you know what? We 
can fix this.
  Virtually all Federal spending right now is mandatory. Two-thirds of 
what we spend every year is called mandatory spending. It is on 
autopilot.
  Let me give you some examples of what that means. $2,523 billion is 
mandatory. Our interest payments in 2018 will be $325 billion. I want 
you to stop and think about what a massive number that is.
  The Federal debt crossed $22 trillion last year. It now exceeds the 
entire annual production of the United States and equates to more than 
$67,000 for every American in this country. Over the next 10 years, 
interest alone on the Federal debt will be the third largest Federal 
expenditure.
  Now, at home, if that was what you were dealing with, you would be 
calling a debt counselor. If your interest payment alone was the third 
highest expenditure you had--never mind principal, just the interest--
you are in serious trouble. Here, we call it government.
  This process robs the American people of their voice, their 
representation. Long term, it will rob them of the basic opportunity 
for services if we don't get this under control.
  The RSC ``Preserving American Freedom'' budget proposal and what I 
propose address that issue.
  First and foremost, we must address what is called mandatory 
spending. Mandatory spending has taken on this huge component. As I 
said, it is two-thirds of Federal expenditures.
  We need to move everything except Social Security, Medicare, and 
TRICARE to discretionary spending and require everybody in this room 
and this building to vote, to put their priorities forward, rather than 
have it be on autopilot.
  The second thing we need to do is not have it simply be whatever we 
spent last year. How much more are we going to spend? We need to 
require zero-based budgeting of all agencies every few years--maybe 3 
years because they are so big, frankly--where they have to justify down 
to the penny what they are spending money on. Because you know what a 
budget cut is in Washington? A budget cut in Washington is you get less 
money than the increase you asked for and they tell you they took a 
budget cut.
  I spent 35 years in private business. A budget cut means you actually 
spend less than what you spent last year. You

[[Page H3832]]

spend less money, less real cash, not that you didn't get as much as 
you asked for.
  Frankly, that is like my teenagers and allowance. Well, you cut my 
budget. No, I didn't give you as much as you asked for.
  Second, the next thing we need to do is we need to use a 51-vote 
requirement for budgets, 51 votes to pass a budget, a simple majority. 
We need to say 51 votes to make any change in discretionary outlays. 
That way, in fact, we can manage our budget appropriations and not have 
the system manage us, not have the Senate decide no, we need 60 votes, 
and we just go along our merry way, putting out money hand over fist.
  Additionally, we need to change a few rules about how we manage 
ourselves. We need to require there be no recess until budget 
appropriations are completed. Everyone stays here. Frankly, I think we 
just lock the doors and stay here till we get it done because, far too 
often, we will just do a continuing resolution.
  You would be disgusted at the number of continuing resolutions that 
happen for a week, 3 days. All these continuing resolutions, all we do 
is spend the same money. So, sorry, no recess until we get it done.
  Additionally, we need to withhold the pay for all Members of Congress 
until we get the job done, until there are budget and appropriations 
resolutions done for the year.
  When we hit the time that we should be funded already for the year, 
if it is not done, everyone on the payroll here that is a Member of 
Congress doesn't get paid, because I know how to get folks' attention 
after 35 years in private business.
  There is one way to put it: Follow the money. Other ways are not 
appropriate on the floor of the House, but you have the idea.
  We have to address this issue. The only way to address this is to get 
our appropriations under control.
  One of the things I proposed, in conjunction with another Member, is 
the Protecting Our Children's Future Act, which talks about these 
changes that must be made in how we do budgeting and appropriations in 
a process. Otherwise, we just do the same thing over and over again 
here in Congress, and that, Madam Speaker, is the perfect definition of 
insanity.
  I appreciate the time to talk about something I think is so urgent 
because, without this fundamental change, we are tilting at windmills. 
We need to make this change sooner than later.

  Mr. BANKS. Madam Speaker, what I hear from Hoosiers all over my 
district is that they sent their Representatives here to bring back 
fiscal sanity, to balance our budget. That is what hardworking Hoosier 
families do every day.
  It is what they have come to find in their State legislature in my 
great home State of Indiana as well. Indiana has a balanced budget 
amendment. We have legislators who go to the State house and pass 
fiscally responsible budgets every 2 years.
  It was a pleasure of mine for 6 years to serve with the next speaker, 
somebody who is a true American hero and one of the great conservative 
leaders of this freshman class in the new Congress.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Baird).
  Mr. BAIRD. Madam Speaker, I rise today to offer my support for the 
RSC 2020 budget.
  I have a copy of that here, so I encourage everyone to take the 
opportunity to study it and look for those positive aspects that are 
important that Congressman Banks and his team put together to have a 
balanced budget.
  It reduces Federal spending by over $12 trillion in the next decade 
and balances our Federal budget in the next 6 years.
  As the gentleman mentioned, the State of Indiana passed an amendment 
to the constitution in 2018 to require our budgets to balance, and 
Hoosiers have enjoyed a balanced State budget since 2012.
  We are among a minority of States that have a Triple-A credit rating, 
and Indiana has cut 15 different taxes while still balancing our budget 
and funding key State priorities.
  This proposed budget addresses out-of-control spending and rightfully 
aims to significantly decrease our national debt. We are $22 trillion 
in debt as a Nation. That is not my money. That is money that belongs 
to the taxpayers. Because we have been paying interest on this debt for 
decades, it is really the money of our next generation of American 
taxpayers, our kids and our grandchildren.
  Madam Speaker, I am proud of what Hoosiers have been able to do in 
our State, and I will continue to fight for that same Hoosier common 
sense here in D.C.

                              {time}  1730

  Mr. BANKS. Madam Speaker, the State of Indiana has so much to be 
proud of. Indiana provides a road map for the rest of the Nation when 
it comes to fiscal responsibility.
  There are few leaders in the House of Representatives who do as much 
for the conservative cause and promote fiscal responsibility as 
Representative Hice from the great State of Georgia.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Hice).
  Mr. HICE of Georgia. Madam Speaker, I thank my good friend for 
yielding, and I appreciate those kind words.
  Madam Speaker, I rise with my colleagues this evening in support of 
the Republican Study Committee budget for 2020.
  Here in Congress, there are immense problems and vast issues that we 
deal with, and sometimes they can feel overwhelming. For that reason, 
it is important that we have a purpose, that we have a vision, that we 
have a pathway to get us out of some of the issues that we face and to 
give us a sense of purpose for getting through those things, a 
playbook, if you will.
  Madam Speaker, I just want to publicly commend my colleagues who have 
labored so diligently to put together this draft. I especially want to 
recognize the RSC chairman,   Mike Johnson, and the Spending Task Force 
chairman,   Jim Banks, my good friend. Their leadership has been 
invaluable, and we are deeply appreciative to all of them.
  I am particularly pleased that in this budget they have included a 
proposal to eliminate official time. This is something I have been 
working on for a long time.
  For those who may not be familiar with it, official time allows a 
Federal employee who is part of a union to conduct union activities in 
the course of their workday even if that means not doing the job that 
they were hired to do.
  In many cases, people are hired to do a job and yet 100 percent of 
their time is spent doing Federal union activities, and so the taxpayer 
is paying these people to do a job which they are not doing. It ends up 
these agencies have to hire someone else to do a job while the first 
individual is doing union activities rather than that for which they 
were hired.
  Over the years since I have been here, I have personally tried to cut 
some of the official time usage. That didn't work. We have tried 
diligently to reform official time, to no avail. We have even tried to 
just provide some degree of transparency, and yet in every attempt, 
everything that we have tried to do, we have faced tremendous 
opposition both from Federal employee unions and many of their allies 
here in Congress.
  Make no mistake, the opposition is real; it is strong; it is 
entrenched in this place. And yet we have got to continue to move 
forward. We have got to try to address these issues.
  The Federal bureaucracy has tremendous power and influence over our 
lives, and yet in this case of official time, there is little to no 
transparency or accountability.
  To add to the problem, it is virtually impossible to remove a Federal 
employee. According to the GAO, the Government Accountability Office, 
it can take between 170 and 370 days to remove a bad actor, a bad 
worker in a Federal position, and this is because of the appeals 
process, grievances that can be filed, complaints that just drag on and 
on and on.
  There are thousands, by the way, of Federal employees who agree with 
me. Recently, a survey found that 31 percent of Federal employees feel 
that there are few to little steps taken to remove or deal with poor-
performing employees in the Federal Government.
  So, Madam Speaker, we need to restore fiscal sanity around here. We

[[Page H3833]]

need to enforce accountability and instill transparency in our Federal 
Government, and I believe this RSC budget is a step in that direction. 
It rises in stark contrast to the nonexistent budget of the Democratic 
majority.
  So with that, again, I thank my friend for yielding to me.
  Mr. BANKS. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his comments 
tonight.
  Madam Speaker, as I said before, there are 140 members of the 
Republican Study Committee. Many of those 140 members are new freshman 
Members who were elected just beginning of this Congress, who are 
conservative Members who stepped up to the plate to preach fiscal 
responsibility, to keep the commitments that they made on the campaign 
trail. One of those new Members is my colleague and friend, 
Representative Hern from Oklahoma.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Kevin 
Hern).
  Mr. KEVIN HERN of Oklahoma. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for 
yielding.
  Madam Speaker, I stand with my colleagues today to stress the 
importance of fiscal health in our country.
  There is a very real problem here. If we don't address it, we are 
condemning our children to doom.
  My colleagues across the aisle like to use the 12 years left 
hyperbole to talk about the necessity to act on climate change, but 
they ignore the fiscal cliff we are standing on, a much more imminent 
threat to the well-being of our country and our people.
  Instead of addressing the debt crisis, the Democrat majority chose 
not to draft a budget at all this year. That tells us all we need to 
know about their priorities.
  Speaker Pelosi herself said: Show me your budget, and I will show you 
your values.
  So, without a budget, what are the majority's values?
  The RSC budget addresses our deficits and aims to balance by 2025. 
This budget refocuses spending on our core constitutional 
responsibilities and limits the growth of government.
  Forty-nine out of the 50 United States are required to have a 
balanced budget, but the Federal Government does not have that 
requirement. A budget that balances is the first and most important 
step towards financial well-being for our country.
  I spent more than 30 years as a business owner before coming to 
Congress. In the business world, a company will fail if they 
continually spend more money than they bring in. You just can't do it.
  That is a foreign concept to many of my colleagues here. In fact, 
several people in this building believe that the best way to address 
our debt is to ignore its existence entirely. That is just simply 
ridiculous. Problems don't just disappear. They don't disappear for you 
or me. You have to take corrective action, and this budget does just 
that.
  The former Secretary of Defense, General James Mattis, testified that 
our national debt is the greatest threat to our democracy. It is rather 
chilling that we borrow money from other nations to fund things like 
our military, who then must protect us from the very nations that we 
borrow money from.
  We can only defend ourselves on borrowed money for so long. What 
happens when we run out of other people's money?
  I find it interesting that Democrats only seem to care about our debt 
after we start putting taxpayer dollars back in people's pockets. No 
one is talking about the fact that Democrat proposals coming from 
Congress will, alone, cost over $100 trillion in new spending. Why 
aren't we holding hearings about that?
  This budget is the only budget put forward in the House so far. It 
deserves our attention and our consideration because we are the only 
ones trying to right the ship.
  Mr. BANKS. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his comments.
  As the gentleman from Oklahoma said, the Republican Study Committee 
budget is the only budget proposal on the table. It is the only 
proposal that balances the budget, that begins to rein in wasteful 
government spending and begins to pay down a disastrous $22 trillion 
national debt.
  There are few Members in this Congress whom I have served with who 
have preached fiscal responsibility as much as my friend and my 
colleague from Georgia (Mr. Allen).
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Allen).
  Mr. ALLEN. Madam Speaker, I thank Congressman Banks for yielding, for 
the Special Order here this evening, for his leadership in crafting 
this very important budget, and for this discussion we are having on it 
tonight.
  Madam Speaker, obviously, we have been waiting on a budget to vote on 
in the United States Congress and have yet to see a budget. Then I 
think we learned that there may not be a budget in the United States 
Congress this year.
  That is very hard to understand because we are spending $4 trillion 
to $4.2 trillion. Two-thirds of that $4.2 trillion is mandatory 
spending, which is basically on automatic pilot, and it is 
skyrocketing. The biggest increases in our deficit are created by this 
mandatory spending.
  On the discretionary side, it is about a third of what we spend 
totally. As far as discretionary spending goes, we have had some modest 
increases.
  For the first part of the time that I was in Congress, we basically 
had budget caps, and, actually, discretionary spending was held to the 
same level the entire time.
  I think it is sad that we are financing our standard of living in my 
generation on the backs of my children and their children and their 
children and their children.
  So what do we do about it?
  I am very proud to talk about what   Jim Banks and his leadership and 
what the Republican Study Committee have done in presenting here this 
evening. This budget exemplifies fiscal sanity and preserves American 
freedom.
  As most of you know, I spent my career in the running of small 
businesses, starting out in the construction industry, then 
participating in the banking industry and electronic medical records 
and real estate development. I did this in conjunction with my wife, 
Robin, as my partner.
  Many times, we would sit down at the kitchen table, just like every 
other American family, and we would map out a budget. I knew that 
spending more than my means was simply out of the question.
  Well, folks, why can't we do that here in Washington? We need more 
fiscal common sense here in Washington, and the RSC fiscal year 2020 
budget does just that.
  Picture this: $12.6 trillion in total deficit reduction over 10 
years, balancing the budget in just 6 years by 2025. On that fact 
alone, I would hope that every Member of this body would offer their 
support.
  This budget also fosters a rewarding environment for economic growth 
and job creation.
  We have heard it over and over again from those who deal in 
investments and deal with the economy and the growth of the economy 
that the biggest wind at our face is this budget deficit. It is a 
headwind. It is going to be a headwind against the growth of this 
economy if we don't get serious about a budget.

  This budget will give us that opportunity for economic growth and job 
creation.
  Right now, we have the best economy in the world: 263,000 jobs were 
created last month, and over 7 million jobs are available throughout 
this Nation, far exceeding the number of jobseekers.
  I was so glad to work with my colleagues here in Congress the last 2 
years and with the President in making this happen. But the American 
people made it happen. All we did was provide an opportunity. We 
reformed regulations and we passed a tax reform bill that gave the 
economy a boost.
  Frankly, in dealing with the budget deficit and going forward, our 
only hope in this is to grow our economy. We must have GDP growth.
  In a telephone townhall with constituents from Georgia's 12th 
District last night, 73 percent of participants reported that our 
economy is headed in the right direction. When I ran for Congress in 
2014, 70 percent of the people in my district said that the economy was 
going in the wrong direction, and we have flipped it.
  However, a soaring economy also creates challenges. As we face 
increasing workforce needs, this budget prioritizes moving Americans 
off the sidelines and back into the workforce, rewarding work and 
promoting innovation.

[[Page H3834]]

  Madam Speaker, I am the grandfather of 13 beautiful grandchildren, 
and the last thing I want to do is leave an insurmountable debt behind 
for our future generations. I strongly encourage all of my colleagues 
to get onboard with the RSC budget to restore a sense of fiscal 
responsibility to Washington. Our future depends on it.
  Mr. BANKS. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Georgia, a great 
friend and a great conservative in the House of Representatives, for 
being here tonight.
  Madam Speaker, when the chairman of the Republican Study Committee,   
Mike Johnson from Louisiana, asked me to take on this task as chairman 
of the Budget and Spending Task Force, I was very proud to do so, not 
just because I have enormous respect for Chairman Johnson as a 
conservative leader in this Congress, but because of the stature and 
reputation of the Republican Study Committee.

                              {time}  1745

  At one point, our Vice President, from my home State, Mike Pence, one 
of the greatest conservative leaders in this Nation, was chairman of 
the Republican Study Committee. And so, too, was another man whom I 
respect just as much, one of the greatest leaders in our Nation, the 
Republican whip, Mr.   Steve Scalise, from Louisiana, chair of the 
Republican Study Committee, too. The reputation of RSC is important 
because it is the conservative vehicle in the Congress to advance 
conservative principles. No one does that more on a daily basis than my 
friend from Louisiana (Mr. Scalise).
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Scalise).
  Mr. SCALISE. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Indiana for 
yielding and for his kind words, too, especially. He has been a great 
friend and a great leader on this front. I want to commend him for 
taking on the task of putting together a budget, Madam Speaker, that 
confronts some of the challenges that our country is facing in a way 
that not only protects those promises that were made, for example, to 
seniors.
  Seniors were promised the safety net of Medicare, and yet, if we do 
nothing--and there are some suggesting that we leave Medicare where it 
is today--it actually goes bankrupt, Madam Speaker, in the next 8 
years. It would be irresponsible for us, as Members of Congress, to sit 
back and say we are afraid to confront these important issues, because 
failing to confront them literally would lead to a bankrupt program for 
seniors today and a broken promise by the Federal Government to those 
seniors.
  So we save Medicare from bankruptcy and, in fact, we do it in a way 
that nothing changes for current seniors. In fact, the only thing that 
would change is if we didn't do this, it would go bankrupt. So the 
program is actually solvent again, not only for current seniors, but 
for younger people, too, who don't think it will be there. In fact, it 
won't be there for them the way it is for current seniors if we don't 
make these bold reforms.
  Madam Speaker, we also save the Social Security program, another 
important promise made to people who work through their years and then 
want to retire and have a safety net. And, today, maybe they have got a 
lot of other means of savings, too. They might have 401(k)s, or they 
might have a pension plan from their company. But they also paid into 
that Social Security trust fund. And, again, if we do nothing, that 
program goes bankrupt, as well. So we save that program, again, not 
only for current seniors, but then for younger people. It will also be 
there for them, too, generationally saving it.
  Just like when Ronald Reagan worked with Tip O'Neill to save Social 
Security from bankruptcy, they did it in a way that actually 
strengthened the program. So for those people who want to hold their 
head in the sand and say, don't do anything, not doing anything means 
those two vital programs--Medicare and Social Security--would go bust 
for seniors today. We can't let that happen.
  Madam Speaker, I thank our leader, Mr. Banks, for doing that.
  And then, again, we strengthen defense. We continue to build on the 
reforms we have made to our economy so that we are able to create more 
jobs, so that we repeal the death tax. We continue lowering taxes, 
which has gotten such a great revolution in job creation and higher 
wages for workers. The things that we are doing that are working, we 
build upon those things and make this country even stronger and greater 
for generations.
  So while putting a budget together is tough--and I know the other 
side hasn't even passed a budget out of committee, Madam Speaker--we, 
with this RSC budget, have shown what bold conservative reforms can do 
to strengthen programs like Medicare, like Social Security, encourage 
innovation in failing programs, block granting Medicaid to States so 
States can innovate, strengthening defense, and, again, building on the 
great successes we are seeing in our economy so that wages can be 
higher, and we protect people with preexisting conditions.
  These are the kinds of things that people call on us to do. We come 
here to Congress to do the big things, to tackle the tough problems in 
a way where we protect people who count on us and actually strengthen 
this country for future generations, so we can build on this great 
American Dream.
  Mr. BANKS. Madam Speaker, this Republican Study Committee budget 
proposal was a gigantic effort: over 300 member proposals from the 141 
members of the Republican Study Committee who offered ideas and 
proposals to include in this budget proposal.
  Over the past several weeks, we met on a weekly basis, almost a dozen 
times, to put together this budget proposal, assembling a task force of 
eight conservative members, who gathered on a weekly basis to comb 
through the Federal budget to talk about ways that we could put forth 
something that conservatives, not just in Congress but throughout the 
country, could be very proud of.
  I am really proud that, on our task force, we had Members who came 
from different States, different perspectives, who had different ideas. 
That made the effort stronger and, in the end, it allowed us to produce 
a stronger budget proposal. One of those members, I am very proud to 
say, is my friend, the representative from Florida, my colleague, 
Representative Yoho.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Yoho).
  Mr. YOHO. Madam Speaker, I appreciate the chairman of the RSC Budget 
Committee for yielding to me, along with Chairman   Mike Johnson, for 
leading the way on this task. I thank all of my colleagues who 
participated in this, and the RSC staff who did the hard work. They 
were there every night and every day to bring this budget together--
Richard Stern, Jay, and Mark. Many times, they don't get recognized for 
the work that they did, but yet they put in a lot of effort.
  So why do a budget? Everybody asks, why do you guys worry about a 
budget? Well, this House is tasked with the power of the purse. We are 
the ones who are supposed to be in charge of a budget and spending the 
people's money, because the American people care how we spend their 
money. They want us to spend it smartly, prudently, and responsibly. If 
you don't have a budget, can you do that?

  We have got a budget. Right here, we have got a budget. This is a 
budget. This is a good budget. We are at $22 trillion in debt. This 
Nation is at $22 trillion in debt.
  In the previous administration, we saw the debt double. This 
administration, it will probably double again. And if a Democrat gets 
in, or a Republican, it will probably double again. If this body does 
not come together, not as Republicans or Democrats, but as Americans, 
this problem will never be addressed. What happens is a political 
divide happens because we can blame the other side for not doing what 
they are supposed to.
  We didn't have a budget last year and the Democrats don't have a 
budget this year. So how serious is this body about correcting this? 
The Republican Study Committee has a budget. This budget needs to be 
looked at.
  I was born in the fifties--1955--and I grew up during the sixties. 
Our mandatory spending in this country was roughly 30 percent: 70 
percent was discretionary spending. Do you know what that allows you to 
do? That allows you to do an interstate system, and it allows you to 
have a space program and have aspirations of going to

[[Page H3835]]

the Moon and coming back by a Democratic President who put country 
above politics. We came together, and we did that because we could.
  Do you know what? We can't do that today, because, today, 71 percent 
of our spending is mandatory, and 29 percent is discretionary. But let 
me tell you who can do that.
  China can go to the Moon. China can do infrastructure. In fact, they 
are doing it all over the world. Do you know why? Because they are cash 
rich. We are cash poor. In fact, they hold a large portion of our debt.
  Let me tell you what $22 trillion in debt is. If you take $22 
trillion and divide it by 330 million Americans, roughly, that comes 
down to $67,000, not per family, but per individual. So for 300 million 
Americans, they are $67,000 in debt.
  Is it my fault? Yeah, I guess so, because I am here. It is your 
fault, it is their fault. If we are here, this is our generation's 
fault, and this is something that we have to come together as Americans 
to fix.
  If we don't have a budget, can we fix a budget problem? If we don't 
have a budget, can we acknowledge a problem?
  As I pointed out, the other side doesn't have a budget. There is a 
budget and if we come together as Americans and put down the crazy 
politics of fighting one side over the other, we can fix the problems 
of this country. We can fix education, we can fix healthcare, we can 
fix infrastructure, and we can plan for a future brighter than today. 
We can create a vision for this country 50 to 100 years down the road, 
but we can't do it if we are fighting over budgetary problems in this 
Nation.
  Madam Speaker, I appreciate the honor to be able to be on this 
committee. I hope it sinks into the other side that we come together, 
and we come together as Americans.
  Mr. BANKS. Madam Speaker, we need to confront this fiscal challenge 
now, as it is no longer a far-off concern.
  Currently, we are set to run trillion-dollar deficits in perpetuity. 
The Social Security trust fund will be bankrupt by 2035. The Medicare 
trust fund will be bankrupt by 2026. Without bold and immediate action, 
this growing debt will condemn America to a future that is less 
prosperous and less free.
  My colleagues and I from the Republican Study Committee are 
determined to make sure that this never materializes. The Republican 
Study Committee preserving the American freedom budget would not only 
prevent that bleak future, it would ensure even greater prosperity for 
all Americans for years and generations to come.
  I could not be prouder to lead this effort on behalf of the 
Republican Study Committee and its 141 conservative members.
  Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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