[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 4486]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        FISCAL YEAR 2013 BUDGET

  (Mr. COSTA asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. COSTA. Mr. Speaker, we all have our own ideas on how we should 
balance the budget, but missing in today's debate is a bipartisan 
approach to solve our Nation's fiscal problems. No one party has the 
answers. We can do this not through a Republican- nor a Democratic-
proposed budget, unless we are willing to demonstrate bipartisanship.
  That's why I'm opposing both the Republican and the Democratic 
proposals. These are not an answer to our Nation's fiscal problems. 
Instead, the Simpson-Bowles approach reflected in the Cooper-LaTourette 
substitute is the preferred approach that we need to follow.
  Last night's votes and today's votes will once again demonstrate that 
the Congress is tone deaf. It's time to put our economy back on a path 
to fiscal sustainability and pass the Simpson-Bowles measure that last 
night fell far short. I suggest we cut $4 trillion from the deficit 
over 10 years with spending cuts and tax reform to ensure solvency of 
entitlements such as Medicare and Social Security. It's time that we 
act in a bipartisan fashion.

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