[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 86 (Tuesday, May 18, 2021)]
[House]
[Pages H2428-H2429]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     WE NEED FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Cloud) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. CLOUD. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to advocate for fiscal 
responsibility as Congress seeks to craft a budget.
  This past year, our Nation has spent more than $7.6 trillion. That is 
more than the Federal Government spent in the first 200 years since our 
founding. With the Federal Government's debt already clocking in at $28 
trillion and rising as I speak, we must face the reality that our 
grandchildren are going to foot this bill.
  On May 12, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that inflation 
had grown by 4.2 percent over the last year. That is the largest 12-
month increase since September 2008. Should we continue to spend at the 
rate that we are spending, our national debt, debt servicing, and costs 
for household items will continue to skyrocket, making life 
unaffordable for millions more.
  This is not right. It is immoral for us to continue to fulfill the 
wants and needs of our generation by stealing opportunity from the 
next. We must do the hard work of meeting our country's needs 
responsibly.
  The Republican Study Committee has proposed such a budget, a 
conservative budget, one that provides a roadmap toward a better future 
for our country. This budget gets us back on track in just 5 years 
while eliminating the deficit and cutting taxes. This is a conservative 
budget, one that aims to strengthen our Nation and provide better 
governance.
  I am pleased to report that the RSC budget includes four of my 
legislative proposals, including my bill to require the Congressional 
Budget Office to include the cost of debt servicing when preparing cost 
estimates for proposed legislation. Before legislation passes either 
the House or Senate, lawmakers should know how much it is going to 
cost, yet Congress routinely ignores the true cost and overstates the 
benefits of new spending.
  The American people have to account for the cost of debt servicing in 
their

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family budgets, and providing Congress with accurate cost estimates 
that include the cost of debt servicing is commonsense reform that 
would hold Congress to the same standard, forcing lawmakers to reckon 
with the actual cost of raising our national debt.
  Additionally, this budget is pro-life. It includes my bill, the 
Women's Public Health and Safety Act, which would help prevent taxpayer 
dollars from funding abortion providers. This legislation will empower 
States to end the bankrolling of abortion providers and free up funding 
for healthcare initiatives for those providers that actually put the 
well-being of women and babies first.
  This budget is pro-Second Amendment. It includes my legislation to 
prohibit a natural disaster declaration from being used to impose gun 
or ammo controls.
  Finally, this bill is fiscally responsible. It includes my 
legislation for a Federal sunset commission to monitor the 
effectiveness of government agencies and prevent wasteful 
inefficiencies and duplicative programming.
  I want to thank the RSC Budget Task Force chairman, Congressman Hern, 
and the chairman of the RSC, Congressman Banks, for putting forth a 
bold budget.
  We can get our Nation back on track. We just need to put in the time 
to do what we have to do here in Washington.

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