Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, the President warned Americans would feel the pain of sequestration. What he failed to mention was his White House would play politics to guarantee pain was felt. House Republicans told the President to prioritize and find places to cut American families would not feel. He refused. This is why I am proud to support the Reducing Flight Delays Act, correcting the gross incompetence happening at the White House to ensure Southwest Floridians see shorter wait times at airports.

Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 125, had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the House Republican budget, a balanced budget. Let me be very, very clear about this. A balanced budget means jobs. Again, a balanced budget means jobs.

Think about this for a second. Your family at home, you balance your budget; why can't Washington? Businesses balance their budget; why can't Washington? And House Republicans today, all we're asking is to balance the budget in 10 years. Think about this. If you have a 10- year-old, by the time we balance the budget, your 10-year-old will basically be almost done with college.

So in a bipartisan fashion, I would say look at the 1990s. Let's look at President Bill Clinton who balanced the budget with a Republican- controlled House, opportunity and jobs ran rampant. We need to return to that today. So we're asking this President, Please, work with us, Mr. President. But what is worse in all of this is how Senate Democrats have failed to serve you. The last time that they even passed a budget was before the iPad existed--before the iPad existed.

We're willing to compromise; we're willing to work with people. But how can we work with Senate Democrats when they're not working at all? They're not doing their job at all to serve you, the American people. Their budget right now that they're working on does nothing more than raise taxes. They want more of your money, more money out of your paycheck. Ask yourself, does Washington really need more of your money?

We're $16 trillion in debt. We have deficits that we can't even wrap our arms around, and they want more of your money. If you had a financial adviser that put you a million dollars in

debt and then ripped through your savings for your children's college education and all of your checking account and said, ``Yeah, just give me some more money and we'll solve the problem,'' would you do it? Absolutely not.

More than jobs, though, we're also working to save Medicare and Social Security, the commitments that we have made to the American people. So let's take a look here at the big picture. Here's a budget breakdown of where we're at right now. Look, your eyes will glaze over when we start talking about the trillions of dollars that we spend. But let's take a look at what you pay versus what you expect.

This blue part right here is on autopilot. No adults have come to the table to talk about where we're at today and how to actually save your Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid in this big blue part. We're doing that today, House Republicans, in balancing the budget. But this is what you expect from the Federal Government: your education, roads, bridges, a healthy environment, and what's mandated by the Constitution, our Armed Forces to protect us.

But this is where it gets really scary. All of this blue part here for Medicare and Social Security is what we take in. In other words, all of our cash on hand, if you will, the money that you pay the Federal Government every time you get a paycheck or pay your income taxes, this is all devoted to Medicare and Medicaid and Social Security. In other words, everything else--your education, the environment, our roads, bridges, ports, Armed Forces--all of that money to pay for that basically is borrowed. It's borrowed--or worse, just printed.

This is the sad reality that we're facing today. But with Republican House leadership and working with Democrats who are actually willing to come to the table and compromise--and not just work with us, work for you--we can save Social Security and Medicare.

And by the way, when you hear Democrats or you see the videos of them throwing your grandmother off a cliff or telling you that Republicans just want to cut, cut, cut, no; this is about save, save, save. And in the words of a hip-hop band from my generation, Public Enemy: don't believe the hype.

House Republicans are working today for you. We're working to save Social Security and Medicare. We're working to save this economy and, ultimately, this country for you.

Mr. Speaker, as a freshman, I am the first to make fun of myself and, quite frankly, of both parties. It seems that last session's budget negotiations consisted of Democrats making videos of Republicans throwing your grandmother off a cliff while wonky Republicans would be in the corner, talking about the debt-to-GDP ratio and other things that most hardworking Americans don't have time to think about or understand. But let me tell you what we can all understand: Republicans are doing what Senate Democrats have not done in years--we will pass another budget.

So why does this matter to you?

It matters because a balanced budget means jobs, opportunity and, ultimately, more money in your pocket. More money in Washington means less money for you--less money for your gas, your groceries, your rent, your mortgage, and maybe your next vacation to Florida. Now, being bipartisan, do you know who understood that more than anyone? President Bill Clinton. With a Republican House, the budget was balanced.

We conservatives are working hard to balance that budget today for your opportunity and your job. We are here working for you.

I'd like to thank the gentleman from Louisiana for his hard work.

I would like to take a moment to speak, in fact, in support of the Scalise amendment. In doing so, there's a much bigger picture here, a bigger picture that, quite frankly, isn't even being talked about when it comes to the challenges our country faces today. Our problems go beyond Republican and beyond Democrat. Our problems are numbers, debt and deficits that we cannot even begin to wrap our arms around.

So what we must do as a country and beyond party lines is work together as Americans. Today I ask for your support of this amendment to demand accountability and transparency from Washington, accountability when it comes to your money--not tax dollars, not stimulus dollars--your money.

We often hear from the President that we cannot cut, cut, cut, and I agree. This is not about cutting. This is about saving. This is about saving Social Security, saving Medicare, saving our economy and ultimately our government. In the big picture, we must demand that we, as elected officials and servants of the people, are held accountable. Both the Scalise amendment and the Require a PLAN Act do just that.