Date: 2015-04-30
Speaker: TOM PRICE (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Georgia

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker. let me begin by thanking everyone involved in getting us to this moment. where we have an agreement between the House and the Senate Budget conferees on a joint balanced budget proposal before the Congress. All members of our committee and the conference committee and their staffs should be commended for their hard work. And I want to commend specifically the staff directors on both sides of the aisle. Rick May on the Republican side and Tom Kahn on the Democratic side worked yeomans service in making certain that their respective Members were prepared for the activity that we have gone through over the past 4 months. We are set. Mr. Speaker. to adopt the first balanced budget of this kind in over a decade. That is important not only from an historical perspective but also for what it says about this Congress commitment to doing the work that the American people sent us here to do. to get it done. to move forward with positive solutions for a healthier economy and a stronger. more secure nation. What we have before us today. Mr. Speaker. is a budget that balances within 10 years without raising taxes and reduces spending over $5 trillion over that period of time. which will not only get Washingtons fiscal house in order. but pave the way for stronger economic growth. more jobs. and more opportunity. It invests in our Nations priorities. ensures a strong national defense. and saves. strengthens. and protects important programs like Medicare and Social Security. Mr. Speaker. I know our friends on the other side of the aisle. we will hear from them. and they may have a difference of opinion. If past is prologue. we are bound to hear from them a few items that they will talk about. They will say that our budget will. in their words. "hurt the middle class." That statement bears no resemblance to reality. Mr. Speaker. In fact. what is hurting the middle class right now are the policies of our Democrat friends and President Obama that they have put in place. policies that have led to the worst economic recovery in the modern era. stagnant wages and underwhelming growth in our economy. We just heard today. Mr. Speaker. that the economy grew in the first quarter by 0.2 percent. There is a reason for that. What we need to do is to get the economy rolling. The best thing we can do for the middle classfor hardworking American familiesis to get our economy turned around so more jobs are being created and more dreams are being realized. Guess what. Mr. Speaker. Our budget does just that through responsible reforms that make government more efficient. more effective. and more accountable by lifting the oppressive regulatory regime here in Washington off the backs of job creators and entrepreneurs and by fundamentally reforming our Tax Code so it is simpler. fairer. and American companies can better compete more effectively in the global economy. By doing all of that. Mr. Speaker. the Congressional Budget Office tells us that we will rein in deficits and lower government spending which will have a positive. longterm impact on the economy as well as the budget. benefits like increases in the pool of national savings and investment which would allow for more growth. job creation. and more economic security. Our friends on the other side of the aisle are fond of attacking our efforts to save. strengthen. and protect programs like Medicare. Medicaid. and Social Security. Why some folks here in Washington would be willing to let these programs go bankrupt is beyond me. Medicare and Social Security are going broke. That is not according to me. That is according to the trustees of the programs. Medicaid is not working for patients or the doctors who would like to be able to serve them. The status quo is unsustainable. and doing nothing is indefensible. We can save these programs and improve them. We have to do so for the sake of their beneficiaries and for future generations. and our budget does just that. Further. Mr. Speaker. as I have mentioned before. our budget prioritizes the safety and security of the American people. channeling important resources to our men and women in uniform. We do so in a responsible way. in a manner consistent with current law. and without allowing further acrosstheboard cuts in defense spending. There are those who criticize how we do that. and I respect that there are differences of opinion on this. but. Mr. Speaker. I would hope that we can all agree that. when we are faced with hugely complex national security threats and growing unrest around the world. what we need to do is to find a way to move forward to ensure that those protecting our lives and our freedom have the support and the training that they need. I look forward to an open and honest debate about the vision we have put forward to get our Nations fiscal house in order. to strengthen our Nations defenses. to protect our most vulnerable citizens. and to ensure a healthier economy for all Americans because that is exactly what this budget agreement does. Mr. Speaker. I urge my colleagues to support the agreement. and I reserve the balance of my time.