[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 2]
[Senate]
[Pages 1518-1519]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         THE PRESIDENT'S BUDGET

  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, this morning at 11 a.m., the President 
released the budget, his final budget for his Presidency. 
Unfortunately, rather than something that sends a signal that he wants 
to work with Congress, it is basically more of the same--a $4 trillion 
budget that is unserious, partisan, and contains reckless spending. In 
it, he does include several new proposals, proposals he knows will be 
dead on arrival here in the U.S. Congress.
  From my perspective, coming from an energy State, one pretty 
astounding measure he suggested was putting a $10 tax on each barrel of 
oil. What that would do is translate into 25 cents a gallon more for 
consumers at the pump. How in the world would that help American 
families who are suffering as a result of stagnant wages due to slow 
economic growth in this country as well as additional costs, such as 
ObamaCare, that have been imposed upon them by the administration? The 
simple fact is that it doesn't help the average American family get by. 
It is the opposite.
  At a time when our country is producing more energy domestically than 
it ever has and just beginning to export that energy to our friends and 
allies around the world, the President's budget reveals that he has 
little interest in growing our energy independence and little interest 
in jump-starting our economy.
  All he has to do is look at Texas, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, and 
other places to see how our domestic energy production has helped 
create thousands of jobs and helped grow the economy. Instead, the 
President makes these job-killing proposals, which will further burden 
hard-working American families, along with the tepid growth that we 
have seen here in our own economy--0.7 percent just this last quarter. 
The President's budget adds further insult to injury by adding to our 
national debt, which is already $19 trillion.
  Somebody is going to have to pay that back. In the meantime, what we 
will have to do is pay interest on that debt, which will continue to 
crowd out spending in other areas like national security where there is 
a national consensus. This is the number one priority for the American 
people.
  Strangely, but unfortunately predictably, rather than deciding to 
work with Congress and to listen to the concerns that are raised by 
those hard-

[[Page 1519]]

working American families, President Obama went ahead and submitted a 
budget with no apparent interest in finding any kind of common ground. 
It is a sad testament to his go-it-alone legacy, which has been more 
ideological than actually solution oriented.
  We are here to try to solve problems, and the only way we do that is 
by working together to find consensus where we can. Understanding that 
there are people who serve in the Senate and the House from different 
points of view all across the ideological spectrum, it is only by 
working together--and that includes not just Congress but the 
President, too--that we can actually begin to help grow the economy to 
help create jobs, to help make America more secure.
  Given the fact that the President has decided to take the tack he 
has, I hope that Congress will lead the charge against this request for 
irresponsible spending and try to help get our economy back on track, 
to begin the process of reducing our debt and strengthening the hand of 
the American family.

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