[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 9]
[House]
[Pages 12179-12180]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     CHANGING OUR FISCAL DIRECTION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Indiana (Mr. Pence) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. PENCE. Mr. Speaker, this is a difficult time in the life of the 
people of this country. Families are hurting. Our economy is 
struggling. The economic policies of this administration have failed to 
turn around this Great Recession, as it has come to be known. And I 
believe that runaway Federal spending, deficits, and debt are a barrier 
to our economic recovery, a barrier to putting Americans back to work.
  We have to change the fiscal direction of this government for this 
generation, for jobs for Americans today, and for future generations 
who are facing a mountain range of debt--a $14 trillion national debt; 
$1.65 trillion deficit this year alone.
  As most of my colleagues know, I've fought against runaway spending 
on a bipartisan basis. I opposed Big Government plans when they were 
offered by Republican Presidents and in Republican Congresses, and I 
fought with equal vigor against the borrowing, the spending, the 
bailouts, and the takeovers of the recent Democratic Congress and this 
administration.
  But now we come to another debt ceiling vote, and as the late Russell 
Kirk wrote, ``Politics is the art of the possible.'' The American 
people are looking in and they know, if you owe debts, pay debts. We 
have to find a way to pay the Nation's bills. But the American people 
also know we have to find a way to set our Nation on a course of living 
within our means once again.
  Now, I am still studying Speaker Boehner's proposal, but there is 
much that recommends it. I have long said that there should be no 
increase in the debt ceiling without real and meaningful spending cuts 
and reforms in the short term and in the long term.

                              {time}  1100

  In many respects, the deal negotiated with Senate leaders by Speaker 
Boehner meets that standard. There are no tax increases in the bill. 
After adjustments to the bill today, there will for

[[Page 12180]]

certain, according to CBO, be dollar-for-dollar cuts for any increase 
in the debt ceiling. Also, there are spending caps, a commission, and 
the possibility of long-term entitlement reform. All of this commends 
the Boehner plan as an important first step toward fiscal discipline 
and reform.
  There is also a call at some point to vote for a balanced budget 
amendment to the Constitution, and it's my belief in the importance of 
that last element that brings me to the floor today. I rise to urge all 
of my colleagues to keep an open mind on the Boehner plan, but also to 
keep an open mind about bringing a balanced budget amendment to the 
floor that could enjoy broad bipartisan support.
  Look, Washington, D.C., is not only broke; it's broken. The American 
people have seen both political parties run up deficits and debt, both 
political parties live outside the means of the American people, and 
they know in their heart of hearts that something is missing. I believe 
that's a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution of the United 
States.
  Now, I've authored the spending limit amendment to the Constitution. 
I support the stout version of a balanced budget amendment that 
Republicans marked up and referenced in the Cut, Cap, and Balance bill, 
a spending limit cap, a supermajority on tax increases. But I don't 
think it takes any great insight to know that that bill will likely not 
get the 290 votes that we need to send it to the Senate and send it to 
the States.
  So in addition to voting on that bill, with spending constraints and 
others, I believe the time has come to bring the historic balanced 
budget amendment back to the floor of the Congress. I believe there 
should be no increase in the debt ceiling unless this Congress does 
everything in its power to send a balanced budget amendment to the 
Senate and to the States for ratification. And I believe we have that 
moment.
  I've talked to some of the most prominent Members of the Democrat 
minority in this Congress today, and they've expressed support for this 
amendment. The American people overwhelmingly support a balanced budget 
amendment to the Constitution.
  So I urge my colleagues to keep an open mind, keep an open mind to 
the Boehner plan. I'm continuing to study it and seeing if we can 
embrace it as an important first step on fiscal discipline and reform, 
finding a way to pay the Nation's bills, but change our fiscal 
direction. But I also encourage my colleagues to consider at some point 
in the near future, let us bring to this floor a balanced budget 
amendment that could enjoy broad bipartisan support, to know that we 
cannot only make progress for fiscal discipline and reform, but we can 
make history by restoring to the national charter or placing in the 
national charter those restraints on spending that this Nation's 
Capitol, under both parties, desperately needs.

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