Cost Estimates Improvement Act

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks.

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.

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

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,

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.

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).

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).

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).

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).

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.

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).

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).

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.