Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, it is a great honor and delight to hear the familiar voice of my pastor, Elliott Powell, opening up the people's House with prayer, a tradition that began at the very first Congress in 1789.

Reverend Powell is the pastor of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Lubbock, Texas, USA. He is joined today in the Chamber gallery by his wife, Shannon Aycock Powell, and their three children: Lila, Karissa,

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and legacy of my dear friend and brother in Christ, Dr. John Thomas, a devoted husband, father, and community leader, who dedicated his life to serving his neighbors in west Texas and those around the world.

Dr. Thomas was a skilled surgeon, but his true calling was healing hearts and lifting souls.

In 1999, he founded Operation HOPE, a nonprofit that deployed teams of healthcare professionals to underserved areas across the globe.

His faith was his compass, Mr. Speaker, as he lived the words of Jesus to love thy neighbor and to do unto the least of these through his tireless medical missions, disaster relief efforts, and unwavering advocacy for the sanctity of life.

For Keri and Andrew and the entire Thomas family, our hearts and prayers are with them.

I can assure you that Dr. Thomas' light will continue to shine through the countless lives he touched and especially and most of all in his wife, Keri, and in his beloved son, Andrew. May God comfort them.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman and commend Mr. Cole for his commitment to controlling costs in the stewardship of taxpayers' hard-earned treasure.

Meanwhile, my Democratic colleagues are demanding an audacious $1.4 trillion in new spending or they will shut the people's government down. We should let the people know what that $1.4 trillion includes. It would extend a failed and what they called temporary COVID tax credit that went to people making $600,000 because there was no income limit. CBO said there were 4.5 million phantom enrollees. That is fraud in Plainview, Texas. CMS said 2.3 million ineligible people received this temporary COVID tax credit, tens of billions of dollars in waste and fraud, and this is what they demand or they will shut the government down.

They also want to remove safeguards that we recently put in important safety net programs, safeguards against what? The safeguards keep ineligible people from receiving these social services, people who are in this country illegally from receiving taxpayer-funded services, and people who are able to work but refuse to work. That is the sum of the people who should not receive the hard-earned, taxpayer-funded services, and those are the measures to root out waste, fraud, and abuse that they want to rip away so that we waste more of our tax dollars and continue on this slippery slope of bankrupting our country.

Mr. Speaker, this is the party whose failed policies of tax, regulation, borrowing, and unbridled spending gave us the worst cost- of-living crisis in the last half century. I urge my colleagues to reject their demands and support Chairman Cole and the appropriators in this CR so we can work responsibly to fund the people's government and avoid a costly and disruptive shutdown.

Mr. Chairman, my amendment makes good on President Trump's executive order to supercharge U.S. energy dominance by harnessing advanced nuclear technologies.

In the heart of west Texas, at Abilene Christian University, we are building a first-of-its-kind molten salt research reactor, a game changer, no doubt, for making nuclear energy safer, more efficient, and deployable.

This project, Mr. Chair, isn't just pie in the sky. It has generated over $110 million in private investment, $112 million from the State of Texas, and just last month, thanks to the leadership and vision of Secretary Chris Wright, has received a conditional commitment from DOE to provide its fuel.

This is the only molten salt reactor to ever receive a construction permit from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the first research reactor to

receive an NRC construction permit in over 30 years. All that is needed now for this reactor to become operational is for the Federal Government to do what it has always done for every research reactor in the country for decades, which is to provide the fuel at no cost to the university. That is to those reactors that have met those stringent requirements.

Mr. Chair, this advanced nuclear technology is the best chance for America to beat China in the very important nuclear power race and secure our Nation's future energy security.

I urge my colleagues to support this amendment.

God bless west Texas, and go Wildcats.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman and our fearless Conference chair from Michigan for her leadership.

Mr. Speaker, make no mistake: The One Big Beautiful Bill Act is a big and beautiful win for the American people.

It is big because it delivers the largest tax cuts for families and small businesses; the greatest single investment in border security and national defense; the most significant commitment to unlocking America's energy resources; and the largest reduction in mandatory spending in the history of the United States by twofold.

It is beautiful, Mr. Speaker, because of the tangible benefits these policies will provide to our fellow Americans.

During the month of August, like many of the Members here, I crisscrossed over 1,000 miles in my district in west Texas, and the refrain I heard in one community after another was simple: Thank you. Thank you for supporting our President. Thank you for delivering on our mandate. Thank you for fighting for our Nation's future.

Mr. Speaker, in Scurry County, we heard how deregulation and historic tax cuts will reignite their economy and put money back into their pockets.

In Terry County, they were grateful for our stewardship of their hard-earned tax dollars as we cut $1.5 trillion in woke and wasteful spending.

In Lynn County, we talked about strengthening rural healthcare through the $50 billion rural healthcare fund; cracking down on waste, fraud, and abuse that has plagued Medicaid; and restoring the dignity of work through long overdue and generational welfare reform.

In Parmer County, I was proud to report that the bill permanently locks in low taxes for working families; provides additional tax relief for seniors; and protects generational family farms, family-run oil and gas companies, and other family-owned businesses with enhanced death tax relief.

In Shackelford and Hockley Counties, folks said that it is about time that we put a stop to Biden's war on energy so that we can lower energy prices for working people; so that we can strengthen our energy security; and so that we can unleash not just American energy dominance, but American prosperity for our children and children's children.

In Haskell County, we talked about how the bill's generational investment in national security will help secure our southern border, strengthen our military, and restore America's leadership in the world.

The other message I heard over and over was this: Keep pressing forward, unrelenting, undeterred, and unapologetic, to advance the America First agenda.

My response, Mr. Speaker: Yes, ma'am. Yes, sir, as sure as the Sun rises, we are just getting started.

Mr. Speaker, the era of woke and wasteful spending in the people's government is over, and it is sad to watch this last-ditch effort by my Democratic colleagues to fight for status quo. The status quo is a cesspool of these leftist ideological programs that they would say is soft power for America's interests or that they would say are lifesaving services.

Mr. Speaker, the American people rejected this radical agenda. They rejected the failed policies of my Democratic colleagues and their unbridled spending that is bankrupting this country.

They sent President Trump here with a mandate and unified Republican leadership to restore competent leadership, commonsense policies, and a commitment to America First. There is nothing common sense or America First about transgender comic books in Peru and all the other woke and wasteful programs that my Democratic colleagues are fighting to defend.

Mr. Speaker, I am thankful that we have a President who has heard from the people and is hell-bent on rightsizing this bureaucracy, reining in this waste, and restoring fiscal sanity here in Washington, D.C., not only for the taxpayers of today but for the future, for prosperity, for freedom, and for our children.

This is why my colleagues are going to wander in the wilderness for years to come. While that might benefit us politically, it is sad for my country. I am sad as an American to see the defense of these crazy, divisive, and dangerous ideological programs that my taxpayers in west Texas are spending their hard-earned money for.

Mr. Speaker, I encourage and urge my colleagues on both sides to support this rescissions package.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Dr. Ted Mitchell, chancellor of the Texas Tech University System for 15 years of dedicated service to Red Raider Nation in the great State of Texas.

I am honored to have worked with Chancellor Mitchell over the years and proud to call him and his wonderful wife, Janet, dear friends. Chancellor Mitchell successfully led Texas Tech University System to new levels of growth, discovery, and educational excellence during his term.

I wish him the very best as he enters a new chapter of his life. We have a great team of regents chaired by my friend Cody Campbell. I am confident they will find the right leader, but they will have big shoes to fill, no doubt, with Chancellor Mitchell's departure.

I congratulate Ted. On behalf of the people of west Texas, I thank him for bearing our banner far and wide and modeling what it means to be a true, fearless champion.

God bless west Texas, and long live the Matadors.

Honoring Texas Flood Victims

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the lives lost in the catastrophic floods that struck central Texas over the Fourth of July weekend.

At least 134 lives have been taken, including 27 young girls and counselors at Camp Mystic in Kerr County. This is an unimaginable and heartbreaking loss for these families and for our great State.

I also want to remember constituents from my district whose lives were lost. Tanya Burwick was the epitome of a hardworking West Texan. Wife to Robert, with four children and six grandchildren, she did it all while working for the past 10 years at the Walmart Neighborhood Market in San Angelo, Texas, out of commitment to her family and their future.

Holly Frizzell was also a mother and grandmother. She was married for almost 40 years to her husband, Lane, who was diagnosed with dementia and ultimately passed away. You can imagine the hardships for her in the last years of her marriage to Lane, but she turned that tragedy and struggle into service, becoming a tireless advocate for dementia awareness.

That is who she was, reflecting the very best of our country and certainly west Texas, and that is why it is a major loss to our community.

Robert Brake and Joni Brake--two people devoted to service, him an Air Force veteran, her a registered nurse--were celebrating the Fourth of July in a campground next to Hunt, Texas, when the flood overtook them. They leave behind three children, five grandchildren, and several great-grandchildren. They, too, will be missed.

Mr. Speaker, Texans, as well as people throughout the country, are mourning this unimaginable tragedy. We should honor them by striving for the same sacrificial love and service that they so powerfully and beautifully demonstrated in their lives.

I would say that Texans are tough for a lot of reasons, but mostly because we believe in the power of prayer and God's sovereignty and because we depend on Him for our comfort, confidence, and strength. I know Texans are appealing to the Father of compassion and God of all comfort to do what only He can do--what these words and any words could never do--which is provide the divine comfort, peace, and strength that these families need.

I beseech my fellow Americans and my Members on both sides of the aisle, join us in prayer and asking God to do what only He can do to lift these families up, to keep them strong and together through this every step of the way.

May God bless our great country. May God comfort these families. Go, west Texas.

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 566, I call up the bill (H.R. 1) to provide for reconciliation pursuant to title II of H. Con. Res. 14, with the Senate amendment thereto.

Mr. Speaker, I have a motion at the desk.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the Senate amendment to H.R. 1.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, today, we are considering H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, as passed by the Senate.

This bill creates the right incentives for historic economic growth, makes unprecedented investments in our military and border security, and implements the largest spending reduction in American history by twofold, alongside other generational fiscal reforms.

America's economic strength, Mr. Speaker, is the foundation of our global leadership and prosperity, but sadly, it has waned, especially over the last 4 years.

To preserve our influence abroad and our quality of life here at home, we must unleash growth, starting with the largest tax cut in U.S. history.

Just like the first Trump tax cuts, we can expect record job growth, investment, repatriation of capital back to the United States, record- low unemployment, record-high wage growth, and the lowest poverty rates in recorded history.

This bill also equips our troops and law enforcement, Mr. Speaker, to defend our sovereignty, protect our citizens, and secure our border after years of neglect and lawlessness.

While more work remains no doubt to rein in Washington's out-of- control spending and put our Nation on a more sustainable fiscal path, I am confident that H.R. 1 will make America safe, strong, and prosperous once again and, most importantly, give our children, like my daughter, Jane, who is here with me today, a better and brighter future in this, the greatest nation in human history.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Thompson), my good friend from the Keystone State.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. McClintock), my fellow Budget Committee member.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Westerman), my friend and our chairman of the Committee on Natural Resources.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Walberg), my good friend and our chairman of the Education and Workforce Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Hill), my friend and our chairman of the House Committee on Financial Services.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from the Commonwealth of Kentucky (Mr. Guthrie), my friend and the chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Rogers), my friend and also the chairman of the Armed Services Committee here in the House.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. McGuire).

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I would just remind the gentlewoman from Minnesota (Ms. Craig) and my Democratic colleagues that after the first Trump tax cuts, the bottom half's income grew three times faster than the top half. For the lower 10 percent, wages increased two times over the 1 percent. People at the bottom and people in the middle benefited more from the tax breaks.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, budgets are value statements. We value letting working families keep more of their hard-earned dollars. We value stewarding tax dollars, protecting our most vulnerable, preserving programs that they depend on, and not allowing people in this country illegally to siphon money away, jeopardizing those safety nets.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Carter), my friend and fellow Budget Committee member.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to my friend from Georgia (Mr. Collins).

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to the time remaining.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

I will start by thanking my good friend and ranking member, Mr. Brendan Boyle. He is a good American, and he has been a great partner and colleague. I mostly appreciate his friendship.

We convene here before the Fourth of July. I think it is worth recalling those unalienable rights that sparked this American experiment: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Our Founders built this Republic on the promise of freedom: the freedom to build, to strive, and to pursue our own dreams. But that promise only thrives when government stays in its place, preserving liberty, not suffocating it with unchecked regulation and unbridled spending.

This legislation reclaims that founding promise. It is the principal vehicle for advancing President Trump's America First agenda, unleashing a rising tide of prosperity, securing our border, modernizing our national defense, and supercharging energy, agriculture, all of the sectors of our economy that Washington has kept in a choke hold for too long.

Throughout this debate, Mr. Speaker, we heard one hollow Hail Mary attack after another designed to scare the American people and prey on their fears, the last gasp of a broken status quo.

For our part, we put our trust in the American people. We appeal to their aspirations, and we deal in facts, not fear.

There are the false claims they make that this only helps the so- called 1 percent, the top 1 percent, the superrich, when actually it locks in the largest middle-class tax cuts in history, putting thousands of dollars back in the pockets of families still recovering from the crushing inflation and cost-of-living crisis caused by the Democrats' failed economic policies and unbridled spending.

There is the complete distortion that Medicaid is being cut when, in fact, it is being strengthened for our most vulnerable citizens by eliminating hundreds of billions of dollars of waste, fraud, and abuse.

There is the fallacy that work requirements are somehow punitive when we know that they restore the dignity of work and lead to better opportunities and bigger paychecks.

All their myths are headed for the ash heap of history.

From day one, we said this was a generational opportunity to deliver the most comprehensive and consequential set of conservative reforms in modern history, and that is exactly what we are doing.

This isn't our moment, Mr. Speaker. This is the American people's moment.

I urge my colleagues to pass this bill and open up that gateway to a new golden age of America.

God bless America. Go west Texas.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I thank my good friend from the great State of Texas, ``the judge,'' as we call him back in the freest and greatest State in the Union, for his leadership.

I have an amendment, Mr. Chair, and it is one I think all of my colleagues would want to support.

In the last week, the world witnessed the might of America's unparalleled air superiority and what a critical role our strategic bombers and the men and women who pilot and maintain them play in keeping our enemies, like Iran, in check.

For nearly 40 years, the B-1 has been the tip of the spear of America's air superiority. The B-1 has served us well, but at a time when our adversaries like China are making their own historic investments in their own military, it is time we roll out America's next generation warfighter.

That is why I rise in strong support of this amendment that would direct a little over $4 million to enhance gate security at military installations set to receive the B-21 Raider, including Dyess Air Force Base in the key city of Abilene, Texas.

The B-21 Raider represents the most capable and lethal bomber this world and this planet has ever known and seen. It is the future of our long-range strike capability, designed to evade modern air defenses and deliver both nuclear and conventional payloads across the globe.

Dyess, the base in Abilene, Texas, will soon become a key platform for deploying this cutting-edge aircraft. We have a responsibility to ensure that this investment in national defense is protected accordingly.

Let's be clear: This is not a theoretical threat. In 2023 alone, U.S. officials reported over 100 incidents of Chinese nationals attempting to unlawfully access Department of Defense facilities.

Mr. Chair, in May of this year, two foreign nationals, here illegally under President Biden's open-border crisis, attempted to breach the Marine Corps base in Quantico in a box truck. These are not isolated incidents, Mr. Chair. They are part of a disturbing trend that put our installations, our technology, and, most importantly, our servicemembers at risk.

This amendment is straightforward. It funds the necessary upgrades to the gate infrastructure at bases like Dyess to comply with the Department of Defense force protection standards. Reinforcing access control preventing unauthorized entry is common sense. As I said, it is straightforward, and it will help both our servicemembers, our air arsenal, and our overall national security posture.

Mr. Chair, I thank the judge for his leadership, and I urge adoption of this amendment.

Mr. Speaker, I'm proud to hail from the Food, Fuel, and Fiber Capital of the World, which powers, feeds, and clothes our great Nation and beyond. Today, I am honored to celebrate an occasion that represents the true embodiment of the spirit and unparalleled ingenuity of West Texas--the groundbreaking of the Crossroads Business Park in Big Spring, Texas.

This development is the first major business park in West Texas tied to the Ports-to-Plains initiative, which will transform the I-27 corridor from Dumas to Laredo. The hundreds of acres of new office space the Crossroads Business Park will create is a model of how Ports- to-Plains will fuel investment in West Texas and represents a major boon for Big Spring, Howard County, and the entire region. This business park offers a new hub for commercial opportunities and job creation, and I am proud to recognize such a remarkable commitment to our community.

This project is also thanks to the strong investment made by Howard County, the City of Big Spring, the Big Spring Economic Development Corporation, the Cross Ell Ranch Corporation, the Permian Basin Regional Planning

Commission, and the Texas Department of Transportation and their commitment to making this vision a reality. On behalf of the 19th Congressional District of Texas, I want to extend a heartfelt thank you to all involved in this project for their dedication to our community. God bless, and go West Texas.

Mr. Speaker, it is really difficult for me to be in this Chamber and hear my Democrat colleagues disparage our country and how we treat immigrants.

The fact is, they are defending lawlessness. They are defending the invasion of our sovereign country. They are promoting and defending people breaking the law, cutting the line of millions of people who are respecting our laws, our country, and the safety of our citizens.

What you won't hear from my Democrat colleagues this morning is to condemn what is happening in L.A., and the violence being perpetrated against our law enforcement agents who are simply trying to uphold the laws of the land.

That is how upside down and backward the Democratic Party has become. You won't hear any of that. These people are risking their lives for you and for me and our families and our communities to stop the flood of drugs and crime pouring into this country. It is unacceptable.

Honoring the UMC Emergency Medical Services Team

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a group of heroes that have been a lifeline for the people of Lubbock County for 50 years: the UMC Emergency Medical Services team.

Since their first 911 response back in November 1975, well before the University Medical Center Hospital even opened its doors, UMC EMS has been on the front lines of saving lives and serving our communities in west Texas.

We are fortunate to have the highest level of healthcare and emergency response professionals protecting our families. In fact, UMC EMS is one of just 46 EMS systems worldwide with a dual accreditation. Their team has earned the American Heart Association's Mission: Lifeline Gold Award every year since 2019, a well-deserved honor.

Mr. Speaker, I thank everyone at UMC EMS, past and present, for their unparalleled care, for their endless compassion, and most of all, their commitment to excellence and service to the people of west Texas. I congratulate them on 50 years of incomparable service, and here is to 50 more.

God bless America, and go west Texas.

Congratulating Coahoma High School Bulldogettes

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize an extraordinary group of young ladies that have accomplished something that no other Texas softball team has in the history of softball in Texas, the Coahoma High School Bulldogettes have secured their third straight championship.

This historic achievement speaks to their drive, their determination, and overall commitment to excellence as well as, of course, the leadership and commitment of their coach, Alex Orosco.

The Bulldogettes have put their community on the map, and all of Texas is taking notice. I congratulate the young ladies on such an unprecedented accomplishment. I thank them for representing the best of west Texas. They are all winners on and off the field and in every sense of the word.

Again, God bless America, and go west Texas.

Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to the time remaining.

Mr. Speaker, I think I can say a few things in 2 minutes, believe it or not, about some of the comments my colleague, Representative Baumgartner, said about the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and its positive impact on rural America, the heartbeat of this country.

The food, fuel, and fiber capital of the world, west Texas, I can tell you, appreciates what is in this big and beautiful bill. It is more than just stopping a 22 percent increase in taxes for hardworking Americans who suffered an inflation tax of about 20 percent over the last 4 years. It is beyond sustainable.

We could go through the list of the largest spending cuts of wasteful, woke, and fraud in this Federal Government. That is two times the deepest cut to wasteful spending in the history of our country.

We can talk about energy dominance, the most significant commitment to opening up energy resources in this country to bring down the cost of energy prices for our families and to make American energy dominant again.

We are so blessed by our natural resources. I will talk about the farm bill reforms. Republicans are strengthening the safety net, the risk management tools to stabilize the ag economy with respect to the volatile prices, the volatility in weather and the investment in trade promotion to open up new markets and opportunities for ag products made here and grown here in the USA.

We have provisions in there that strengthen rural hospitals so they can

provide basic care to the hardworking farmers and ranchers and energy producers and their families. We have welfare reforms that stop trapping people in dependence on the Federal Government and encourage them to get out and work and do something with their hands and be blessed by it and to restore the dignity of work.

Mr. Speaker, I know my time is up. God bless rural America, and God bless west Texas.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize a group of remarkable young women from the plains of West Texas who are making history on the national stage, our Texas Tech Lady Raiders' softball team.

These athletes have battled all season long, with an impressive drive, determination, and an unmistakable West Texas will to win that has taken them from the first Big 12 Championship in program history and a chance this week to win the College World Series.

Coach Glasco and his Lady Raiders represent the best of West Texas values, hardworking, humble, and pure class on and off the field.

All of West Texas and all of Red Raider Nation are cheering on the Lady Raiders, our fearless champions, as they fight for the scarlet and the black.

The Lady Raiders need to go out there tonight, all gas and no brakes, and beat those Texas Longhorns and then turn around and beat them again and bring that championship trophy home to Lubbock, Texas, where it belongs.

Guns up and go West Texas.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Utah for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Moore is a dear friend not only to me but to my children. My children don't know him well. They have met him, but the reason he is a friend to my children and to your children and grandchildren is because he is fighting for their future.

He cares about this Nation. He believes that we are on an unsustainable fiscal path and he believes that if we don't intervene, we will not only jeopardize our economic strength but our national security, our global leadership, and God forbid, a sovereign debt crisis certainly would rob our children of their freedom and opportunities in this great land.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Moore for his leadership on the committee. I thank him for his strong voice and vision and most of all for his courage to do the right thing not only for our citizens and our constituents of today but for generations of Americans, who, by the way, will inherit the whirlwind of our recklessness in terms of the unbridled spending and unsustainable debt if we don't step up in this historic moment.

Let me comment on some of the things that Mr. Moore was mentioning in his remarks.

Let's do a comparison and contrast with our Democrat colleagues when they had control of both Chambers and the White House. They, too, used the tool of budget reconciliation to advance what was their partisan Democrat agenda.

Over the last 4 years under the Biden-Harris administration and Democrat control, they added $8 trillion to the national debt.

They did it by expanding the Federal Government, offering ObamaCare to people making hundreds of thousands of dollars, price-fixing in the drug markets and having premiums go up on seniors.

They did it by expanding the IRS by 80,000 IRS agents and by offering tax subsidies to green energy corporations to the tune of $850 billion.

When they had the tool of budget reconciliation and unified Democrat leadership, that was what they offered to the American people: more spending, more debt, more government, and less freedom.

We have the tools and unified Republican control of both Chambers, and we are investing in border security and defense because we believe the safety and security of the American people is job number one, like providing the common defense is the first and most important job of the Federal Government.

Secondly, we are spending money to allow hardworking American families to keep more of their money and to incentivize investment, growth, job creation, and wage increases. We have been sputtering along because of the failed economic policies of my Democratic colleagues in the Biden-Harris administration and their unbridled, reckless spending.

There is your comparison. One gives you more government with more spending and debt, and the other has a complete offset with a modest reduction in deficit spending, a 10-point reduction in debt to GDP. We have the largest tax cut, the largest spending cut, the largest investment in border security and defense in the history of this country, and the most significant commitment to unlocking American energy resources in our Nation's history.

Mr. Speaker, I am very proud of what we did in this bill. There is so much to talk about, but some of the myths and false claims that are propagated to suggest that this bill will somehow increase the debt are totally false and using a baseline, a CBO score, with a growth assumption based on the policies and laws of the last 4 years.

I think 1.8 percent growth is actually generous considering the last 4 years and the economic policies of our Democratic colleagues. What we did was we assumed a growth rate not based on CBO, JCT, or any other predictive modeling. We said the best way to predict future achievement is past performance.

What did President Biden have as an annual average growth rate? What did President Trump achieve? On average, Biden was at 2.7 if you control for COVID. If you control for COVID, then Trump had a 2.8 percent annual average. Since World War II, the annual average has been a little over 3 percent.

We picked a conservative number, but we know we will outperform it with good energy policies, work incentives, deregulation, America First trade, and locking in low taxes from TCJA.

That 2.6 annual average, that conservative growth assumption, will yield $2.5 trillion over the 10-year budget window. If you stack the spending reforms--which, by the way, are the deepest cuts by two times in our Nation's history. If you add the two, you totally offset the cost of border, defense, and any cost associated with reducing taxes.

It is fiscally responsible. It will do the two things that you primarily need to do in order to restore the fiscal health of this country, put it on a stable path, and prevent or stave off a debt crisis of some magnitude. It grows the economy. It deals with economic growth, which brings revenue to the Treasury.

Mr. Speaker, 1 percent growth over the projections of CBO is $3 trillion against the deficit, and it starts to bend the curve on deficit spending.

Now, is this going to save the country from a debt crisis in the future and address the $120 trillion unfunded liabilities in 30-year accumulative projected debt? No, but this is the first in my lifetime, probably since the post-World War II era--when we were coming out of this same level of indebtedness, with a debt to GDP of around 120 percent--it is the first time since then and in my lifetime that we have taken a meaningful step with growth and spending reforms to start bending the debt-to-GDP curve and start turning this Titanic before it sinks and we do irreparable harm to our Nation and our kids' future.

We have to rinse and repeat this process. There are no silver bullets. There is no one reconciliation bill. Even in generations past, coming out of comparable debt after World War II took two decades, and that was an easier exercise in reducing spending because it was mainly defense after a war.

We are talking about entitlement spending. We are talking about a lot of promises made to a lot of people. We are talking about $2 trillion that we are borrowing now annually to pay for those promises, 50 cents on the dollar of which is just servicing the debt or our interest payments.

Mr. Speaker, we have work to do. Nobody knows that better than Mr. Moore. No one also has called out the fact and reality that at some point, with some of the larger mandatory spending programs, we are going to need Democrats and Republicans to join forces to put the Nation first to solve the problems of sustainability and solvency of programs like Social Security and Medicare that our seniors depend on so that they can have peace of mind and so that our children can actually expect the same safety nets and the same opportunities in this country.

It will take tremendous political courage. Nobody has that more than my friend, Blake Moore. He speaks the truth, and he has said this is his top priority since he was sworn in in his first term. He has made good on that pledge and promise.

I believe that if we continue to do the things that we are doing in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, and we join forces like Ronald Reagan did with Tip O'Neill, which was the last time that Social Security and the solvency were addressed, I think, quite frankly, it is an opportunity made for President Trump. He is the greatest dealmaker we have ever had in the Oval Office.

When I was a freshman and he was recently elected, he did what nobody thought we could do. He revamped and restructured our biggest trade relationship and trade agreement with our two biggest partners, Canada and Mexico, which was known as NAFTA. Then, we had USMCA, and our trade activity and our jobs and wages in agriculture and manufacturing have gone up since, and we had overwhelming bipartisan support.

I have seen President Trump in action. I believe this will be not just a tremendous legacy. I think it would be the biggest legacy. Let's reignite growth. Let's rein in some of the spending and root out the waste, fraud, and abuse in these programs. Let's reinvest in our sons and daughters in uniform who do the most difficult and dangerous jobs.

Let's look not where the puck is but where the puck is going, as they say in hockey. Why would I know anything about hockey? I am from Plainview, Texas. We don't play hockey in west Texas, but I always loved that analogy. You have to skate to where the puck is going.

While we are doing these things in the short run, in this budget window, in this decade, let's look out and be leaders. Let's address those things that we know are coming, and that debt crisis that looms large.

Let's extend the hand of bipartisanship to our friends and Democratic colleagues, again, for the sake of this country, like my hero who inspired me to get involved in politics, Ronald Reagan, did back in the day.

I said that I want to be like that guy, and it was for a lot of reasons. I just got back from the economic forum out there in California and saw the museum. I was reminded of what a statesman leader he was and how he was the right person to work with Tip O'Neill and our Democratic colleagues to do something really big that hasn't been done in 40-plus years.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Moore for the opportunity to address our colleagues. I thank him for his leadership, his Conference leadership and on the Budget Committee and the Ways and Means Committee. It is an honor to work with him.

God bless our great country. Let's get that One Big Beautiful Bill Act and that America First vision that is wrapped in that reconciliation bill to the President's desk. Most importantly, let's make it a reality for the people we serve and for the country we love.

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 436, I call up the bill (H.R. 1) to provide for reconciliation pursuant to title II of H. Con. Res. 14, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 1.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, for the last 4 years, the American people have suffered one self-inflicted crisis after another--from the chaos at our southern border, to our crime ridden streets, to a cost-of-living crisis that decimated working families from sea to shining sea--leaving Americans weaker, our country more divided, and more vulnerable than it has been in generations.

Mr. Speaker, lest we forget how we got here and why this moment is so important and so consequential in the life of our country. Let's reflect on the recent history.

Under the leadership of Biden-Harris and congressional Democrats, our Federal Government failed to enforce the laws of our land and unilaterally surrendered our sovereign border to terrorist drug cartels.

On top of that, our military mission was reduced from warfighter readiness to ideological indoctrination. We lost the confidence of our allies, the respect of our enemies, and America's influence on the world stage.

Unbridled spending and failed fiscal policies sent our country's economy into a tailspin. Trillions in deficit spending, trillions more in regulations, cradle-to-grave welfare without work, and an all-out assault on American energy independence wreaked havoc on our economy and created the worst inflation crisis in 40 years.

In November, the American people gave President Trump a historic mandate and unified Republican leadership in Congress to reverse course on these failed policies and their disastrous consequences.

That is exactly what this bill does, Mr. Speaker.

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act delivers:

The greatest single investment in border security and national defense.

The largest tax cuts for families and small businesses.

The most significant commitment to unlocking America's energy resources.

The largest reduction in spending in the history of the United States by two-fold.

However, in an attempt to derail our efforts, Mr. Speaker, you can be sure of this: Our Democratic colleagues will use their tired, old tactics of fear-mongering and false claims.

Mr. Speaker, they would like to lead you to believe that this reconciliation bill is a ``tax cut for the rich on the backs of the poor.'' Their narrative throughout this process has not only been misleading, Mr. Speaker, and completely untrue, it preys on the fears of our Nation's most vulnerable.

Here is the truth: The 2017 tax cuts lowered tax rates for every American household at every income level with the lower income families benefiting the most while actually increasing the amount of taxes paid at the top 1 percent.

Mr. Speaker, $3 out of every $4 in the Trump tax cuts didn't go to corporations. They went to individuals.

Workers experienced a record 25-year wage increase. Families received an additional $5,000 in median household income, and income for the bottom 50 percent grew three times faster than the top 1 percent.

As a result, Mr. Speaker, a record 6 million Americans were lifted out of poverty.

This won't stop our Democrat colleagues from scaring you, Mr. Speaker, with fallacious statements that children will go without food, seniors will be stranded without healthcare, and the disabled will be left to die in the streets.

All of this is just a cover for what they really want to do. They want to protect healthcare and welfare at any cost for illegal immigrants at the expense of hardworking taxpayers and our--our-- citizens who depend on them.

Crazily enough, Mr. Speaker, they also want to abandon the commonsense, Clinton-era work requirements that reduced government dependency by 80 percent. Instead, they would trap millions of people in poverty and rob them of the dignity of work.

By the overwhelming results of this last election, it is abundantly clear that the American people see through this too, and they have totally rejected the Democrats' radical agenda.

Their message to Washington was clear, Mr. Speaker. They want competent leaders, commonsense policies, and a commitment from all of us to put America and Americans first.

Now let's give the people what they voted for.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, just to be clear, the CBO doesn't say economic benefits. It talks about Federal resources. That letter actually affirms the success of our bill.

Because of reasonable, commonsense work requirements and because of prohibitions on illegal immigrants getting taxpayer-funded social services, we will actually have people moving up and out of the welfare trap. We won't have people siphoning off money who are not eligible.

That is success--not to them, but success to my Republican colleagues.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Thompson), my good friend from the Keystone State and the chair of the Agriculture Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Hill), the chairman of the House Committee on Financial Services.

Mr. Speaker, my Democratic colleagues surely recognize and remember that for the last 4 years they racked up $8 trillion in record debt. If we add the record interest rates

from the record inflation, that would be another $5 trillion. I don't know that we need a whole lot more lecturing on the national debt.

Our balanced budget reconciliation bill actually reduces the deficit in the 10-year window by $140 billion, and it brings the debt to GDP down by 10 percentage points.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Guthrie), the chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee.

Mr. Speaker, 91 percent, on average, of my colleagues, voters, constituents, friends, and families, pay the standard deduction. Democrats' opposition to this bill, if they were successful, would actually cut the standard deduction in half.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Graves), our Transportation and Infrastructure chair.

Mr. Speaker, I remind my colleagues that, over the last 4 years, their failed economic policies and their unbridled spending put a 20 percent regressive inflation tax on working families all across this great land.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Jordan), my good friend and our GOP chair of the Judiciary Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I have great respect for my ranking member, but he is rattling off numbers and saying that this many people will come off of the welfare rolls in my colleagues' districts.

Let's remind the American people: The people he is talking about are folks who are in this country illegally, or they are able to work, and they are not working. They are able to work, and they are not working.

Mr. Speaker, for the record, Democrats are opposing the commonsense policy and what every American's expectation is at a base level that people who are able to work will work. It is good for their soul. It is good for this country. It is the right policy, and my Democratic colleagues are fighting us on it.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from the Keystone State, Pennsylvania (Mr. Smucker), my friend and vice chairman of the Budget Committee.

Mr. Speaker, according to NumbersUSA, over the last 4 years when the Democrats were in charge of this town and millions of people were flooding into this country from across our border, we were spending $9,000 per illegal immigrant on taxpayer-funded social services.

Mr. Speaker, that is more than we spend on our own citizens who depend on Medicaid. That is more than we spend on military benefits for our veterans.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. McClintock), my friend and fellow Budget Committee member.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Gill), a fellow Texan who is also on the Budget Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I agree with the gentleman. Budgets do reflect values. The values of the Republican Party and my colleagues are to protect 40 million families from having their child tax credit cut in half, 26 million small businesses who have the highest marginal rates would lose the 20 percent deduction, 2 million family-owned farms and the farming families would have the debt tax exemption slashed in half.

Mr. Speaker, those are our values. We want people to keep more of their money. We want this economy to grow. We want people to have better opportunities and bigger paychecks. We want to give folks hope for a better life to come up and out of poverty, out of welfare, and put their God-given talents to use.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Carter), a friend and fellow member of the Budget Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I will tell you what is big: $900 billion in special interest tax breaks to green energy corporations that my colleagues passed unilaterally in the Inflation Reduction Act. That is big.

The billionaires that got rich off their tax breaks got a big break, and we aim to phase them out or repeal them so we can bring energy costs down and strengthen America's energy independence.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Stutzman), my friend.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, one of the problems with the work requirements in the supplemental nutrition program--and I am sure Mr. Takano knows this--is that States have been allowed to game the system and not effectively enforce those for able-bodied adults receiving services.

In California, in fact, nobody is working who is on food stamps who is able to work. Nobody is working, so it is not fair to those people. It is not fair to rob them of the dignity of work. It is not fair in our fiduciary role to the taxpayer.

Mr. Speaker, we are turning this ship around. We are cleaning the mess up here in Washington. We are putting incentives in place that will do well by everybody involved.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Joyce), my friend.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Fry).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Walberg), my good friend and the chairman of the Education and Workforce Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I don't think it is a scam to prevent a 22 percent tax hike on average Americans. Let's be clear. My colleagues and I don't think it is a scam to steward tax dollars and root out waste, fraud, and abuse across the people's government.

We don't think it is a scam to prohibit people who are not citizens of our country from draining the Social Security safety net and impacting its sustainability for future vulnerable Americans. That is not a scam. That is our job. We intend to do it.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Edwards), also a House Budget Committee member.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Clyde), who is a great champion for the Second Amendment, a good friend, and a Budget Committee member.

Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, the nonpartisan CBO was off by $1 trillion in projecting the annual deficit back in 2022. They were off by $1 trillion in projecting what the revenue would be. It was record revenue after we passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. I just thought I would say that for the Record.

For the remainder of my time, I will say thank you to my ranking member. He is a great guy. He is a good friend and an excellent partner in this endeavor. I know he loves the country. We disagree today, and we have disagreed along the way, but we have also worked together to have record bipartisan legislation for the Budget Committee. I am just grateful for the gentleman. I thank the ranking member.

Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 313, I call up the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 14) establishing the congressional budget for the United States Government for fiscal year 2025 and setting forth the appropriate budgetary levels for fiscal years 2026 through 2034, with the Senate amendment thereto, and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I have a motion at the desk.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on Senate amendment to H. Con. Res. 14.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, in the most historic election of our lifetime, Americans resoundingly elected President Trump and a Republican-led Congress to reverse course on the failed policies and the string of self-inflicted disasters of the past 4 years.

Unbridled spending and bad economic policies have weakened our economy, created a cost-of-living disaster for working families, and pushed our Nation ever closer to the precipice of the sovereign debt crisis.

Today, our national debt is at wartime levels, Mr. Speaker. Our deficit is $2 trillion more than our annual appropriations budget. Half of that is interest. Interest on the debt is greater than we spend, Mr. Speaker, on all of Defense and, respectively, it is more than we spend on all of Medicare services to our seniors.

It is completely and utterly unsustainable. We are at a critical inflection point. We have a generational opportunity to rein in wasteful spending, reignite growth, and put our Nation on a responsible and sustainable path.

Members of this Chamber did just that. The Republicans of the House fashioned a fiscal framework that was responsible, that put pro-growth policies in place to incent growth and job creation, move our country forward, strengthen our economic base, which is our power base that gives us our global leadership influence.

We also give tools and resources to our Commander in Chief to provide for a common defense. We bend the curve on mandatory spending, which is 75 percent of the budget, 90 percent of the increase in spending, and it is the spending that is bankrupting the United States of America.

For the next hour, the Democrats will have rhetorical arguments that are tired, old, and completely false. They will prey on the fears of our most vulnerable Americans and they will try to intimidate my Republican colleagues into inaction.

They will try to convince our seniors and those families and individuals who struggle that we will somehow steal their safety net or cut their program, which couldn't be further from the truth.

Mr. Speaker, my Democrat colleagues in the Rules Committee said, listen, if you are just talking about cutting waste, you know we are there. You know we will meet you half way. We want to ensure that the taxpayer dollars are stewarded, and yet they take out their baseball bat when we talk about the hundreds of billions of dollars in waste, fraud, and abuse, and they politicize it.

However, when they had full control of the House and Senate and the White House, they jammed through their Inflation Reduction Act or the American Rescue Plan, there wasn't a jot or tittle, not a single measure of fiscal control or a measure of rooting out waste and fraud, but they say they are with us.

Mr. Speaker, instead, there was $2 trillion in wasted tax dollars opening up healthcare and welfare to illegals, waived work requirements to able-bodied Americans, trapping more people in dependence on the government. Of course, they also had bailouts for student loans and expansion of the IRS by $80 billion, mandating electric vehicles for every American, tax breaks for green energy corporations, and the list goes on and on.

They will also dust off an old playbook where they say that the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was simply a tax cut for the rich.

Just to dispel that with a few points, The Washington Post gave four Pinocchios to their claim that it went to the rich and to the corporations. Mr. Speaker, $3 out of $4 went to individuals, and the lower 10 percent of our income brackets received the highest tax break. The top 1 percent actually had to pay a higher share of taxes.

In addition, we saw 25-year wage increases for American families with a median household income able to put $5,000 back into their pockets and 6 million people were raised out of poverty, so all boats rose on the tide of prosperity.

Yet, my Democrat colleagues are trying to stop us from simply extending the tax relief to our small businesses and tax breaks to our families after a 21 percent inflation tax that they suffered through for the last few years.

If they were successful in opposing the extension of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, an average American will have a tax hike of 22 percent, $1,700 would be the extra expense for families of four, 26 million small businesses would lose their comparable tax break through the 20 percent 199A deduction, child tax credit would be cut in half for 40 million families, the standard deduction for 91 percent of all Americans would be cut in half.

Mr. Speaker, as we unlock the reconciliation process, I am encouraging my colleagues to hold fast to the principles established in the House's budget resolution. If we do that, we will preserve the blessings of liberty and prosperity for our children and grandchildren for generations to come. If we don't, if we shrink back in this monumental moment and this historic opportunity, then we will be the first generation of Americans who have left our country worse than we found it.

If we are to usher in that golden age of America that President Trump is fond of talking about, we must advance a budget resolution bill that doesn't just include tax cuts or deregulation or good energy policies. All that is good, but also, admittedly, the most difficult part but the most necessary, is reining in the runaway spending that is driving the greatest country in human history off of a fiscal cliff.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to reverse the curse, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Smucker), a dear friend from the Keystone State and vice chair of the Budget Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 15 seconds to the gentleman from Pennsylvania.

Mr. Speaker, after the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the wages for the bottom 10 percent grew at twice the amount of the top 10 percent and wealth three times the top 1 percent. If Leader Jeffries is successful at killing the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act extension, he will raise taxes by $1,739 for families in his district.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. McClintock), my good friend.

Mr. Speaker, interestingly enough, the Democrats' expansion of ObamaCare actually put 90 cents on the dollar for able- bodied adults. They robbed our most vulnerable--our disabled, blind, and pregnant fellow Americans--of having access to healthcare, reducing the quality of outcomes over the years. That was a policy of the Democrats, and there are many others that need to be reversed.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Hern), my friend.

Mr. Speaker, the inflation tax that my colleague put on her constituents with unbridled spending and failed economic policies actually took $1,100 out of the pockets of our fellow Americans, but the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act put $5,000 back into the pockets of our fellow Americans in every district.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Estes), my friend and a fellow Budget Committee member.

Mr. Speaker, after the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the top 1 percent of earners in this country, who pay 40 percent of the light bills and the expenses of this growing, massive Federal Government, paid more of a share of taxes than they did less. The code got more progressive.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Carey), my friend.

Mr. Speaker, I say to Mr. Panetta that if we do current policy and don't offset the impact of the deficit, that would be a dangerous precedent.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Bergman).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Hill), the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I take that it we don't have the support of our Democrat colleague for the hundreds of billions of dollars in waste, fraud, and abuse in Medicaid.

Quite frankly, it is pervasive throughout the Federal Government and threatens that program, threatens the benefits to our most vulnerable, and threatens the sustainability of that program for future Americans.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Scalise), my dear friend and our fearless majority leader.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Westerman), who is chairman of the Natural Resources Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Meuser), my friend.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Roy), a fellow Budget Committee member.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I wonder how my colleagues justified the $800 billion tax break for multibillion dollar, multinational green energy corporations.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Moore), my friend and former speaker of the house from the Tar Heel State.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I am obsessed with the threat of a looming debt crisis and the irreparable harm it would do to our great economy, our national security, our leadership in the world, and our children's future.

We have an opportunity. It is a historic generational opportunity to right this ship, but we have to grow the economy. We have to have progrowth policies in place that will unleash growth and prosperity, and we have to get serious about the first and most important job of the Federal Government, which is providing for the common defense.

We did that in the House bill, but what we did in the House bill that the Senate fell far short in doing is to have a balanced budget resolution, to have a commitment to enforceable spending reduction targets that would bring the debt to GDP down and put our Nation on good fiscal footing and a sustainable path.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues today to demand that the House budget resolution and that our fiscal framework with our budget targets guide the final reconciliation bill.

Mr. Speaker, again, this may be the last best opportunity to save our country from fiscal ruin. The formula is all there in the House budget resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to demand that that is what drives the bill at the end of the day. God bless America, and I yield back the balance of my time.