Henrico Times

WASHINGTON, D.C. – On May 31, Congressman Rob Wittman (VA-01) released the following statement after voting in support of H.R. 3746 – the Fiscal Responsibility Act:

“For months, despite repeated requests from Speaker McCarthy, President Biden and Congressional Democrats refused to negotiate with House Republicans, recklessly demanding a clean debt ceiling increase and insisting on business as usual with how Washington spends taxpayer dollars. In the end, President Biden and Congressional Democrats caved and for once, we are bending the curve of spending. 

Instead, what we got is the most consequential spending reduction bill in over a decade. The Fiscal Responsibility Act includes conservative wins that will serve as a first step to getting our nation’s fiscal health on track, sets meaningful limits on the Biden Administration’s spending agenda, and provides a net reduction in overall spending next year for the first time in over a decade.

In fact, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its analysis of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, showing that the bill reduces the federal deficit by $2.1 trillion over the next ten years, including $240 billion of lower interest payments on the debt. In other words: this is the largest deficit reduction bill in American history.

This legislation is not perfect: It doesn’t cut spending enough, and it caps defense spending at the level of Biden’s budget request, which is insufficient. However, this bill reflects the reality of a divided government and still delivers for the American people on several fronts. 

For example, the Fiscal Responsibility Act reduces non-defense spending by $40 billion to FY22 levels, which is the biggest cut in discretionary spending in the history of our nation. It limits future spending increases to one percent annual growth for the next six years, claws back $28 billion of unspent COVID-19 funds, slashes $1.39 billion in funding for President Biden’s new IRS agents, and ends the pause on student loan repayment. It also enforces new work requirements for able-bodied Americans to receive government assistance, which will boost our economy and strengthen our workforce. It will also reduce energy costs by cutting regulations to unleash domestic energy production. 

Defaulting on our debt is not an option and the alternative to this bill would have been raising the debt limit cleanly, without any reforms at all. Instead, Republicans fought hard for the Fiscal Responsibility Act, which contains commonsense policies that will help our country address the rising debt being passed on to future generations while protecting the full faith and credit of the United States.”

The Fiscal Responsibility Act passed the House by a vote of 314-117.

Original source can be found here.