Cut Federal Spending

Floor Speech

Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Speaker, I have listened to a textbook case, I believe, of self-induced amnesia this morning from my liberal colleagues. But the American people spoke in November, and I heard the mandate: Cut Federal spending so that more resources can be left in the hands of American families and small businesses so that they can save and invest in order to grow jobs.

I responded to their mandate by voting for billions in cuts. Unfortunately, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle refused to receive the message, but the message is still true.

Let's put the budget issue into a little perspective. It actually is quite simple. They didn't pass the budget when they had control, and now we have to clean up the mess. My liberal Democrat friends want to shut down government in order to maintain their overspending status quo, even at the expense of not sending paychecks to our courageous troops and their families at home.

On the other hand, I and my Republican colleagues want to keep the government open, pay our troops, and respond to the people's demands for cuts in spending and a return to the blessings of freedom.

Our Republican leadership has worked and negotiated with the other side in order to keep the government open, while cutting deficit spending, but it has been to no avail. The Democrats won't give up less than one-half of 1 percent spending in order to keep the government running on a trimmed-down budget and pay our troops. The argument has come down to the size and scope of the spending. And President Obama, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and the Senate Democrats, like a stubborn mule, refuse to move in the direction of their masters, the Constitution and the American people who are telling us to cut spending.

It's time for them to start listening to the American people. It can't be just about the next election; it must be about the next generation.

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