Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2012

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I ask that the quorum call be rescinded.

The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Sanders). Without objection, it is so ordered.

Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I come to the floor as someone who is back in my home State every weekend. As I talk to people and say: What is on your mind, they say what is on their mind are jobs, the economy, the Nation's debt, and the Nation's spending. I say: What do you think about things going on in Washington? They say the problem with Washington is it taxes too much, borrows too much, and the government grows bigger every day, and they say: What are we going to do about it? When we talk about the debt, the people of Wyoming have a clear understanding that the number is very large.

They say: What about the budget? As we get into the discussion, it comes down to: What budget? Where is the budget? It has been 800 days since a budget has gone through this body--over 800 days. You are talking more than 2 years. Why is that?

There was a vote on the budget earlier this year. There was the President's so-called budget, lost 97 to 0. Not even one Democrat voted for what the President had proposed.

The news magazine The Economist called it a dishonest budget. In Wyoming, we balance our budget every year. We do not have a debt like the country has, the country with its $14 trillion debt. In Wyoming, the debt is zero because year after year we balance our budget, live within our means, spend only what comes in, and actually have money left over that we can invest in the people of our State. That is because from the beginning, when the constitution of our State was written, included right there in the constitution was a component saying: You shall balance the budget every year. Do not spend more than you have coming in.

To do that, one of the most useful things is that there actually be a budget, something to live within, something to look to as a guidepost, as a roadmap. I am still looking for one in this body. Where is it? Why have we not seen one? That is why I am coming to the floor today with a number of my colleagues to say: What is going on that it has been over 800 days with no budget, no opportunity to have the American people look to a roadmap to see where the country is headed?

We hear all the discussion about, are we headed to a default? What about the debt limit? What about the ceiling--is that going to be raised? The people say: What is the plan? What is the spending plan? What is the savings plan? I do not hear one coming for the majority party. I do not see one from the majority leader. I do not see one from the Budget Committee. I do not see one from the President. They are having discussions at the White House about how to try to get spending under control. Where is the President's plan?

What I hear from the President is that he wants to raise taxes. The people of Wyoming would say the best way for more revenue to come in is not to raise taxes on the people who are working, it is to put some of those 9.2 percent of Americans who are looking for work, put them to work, and then that money will come in as they pay taxes.

I come today to the floor with a number of my colleagues--Senator Sessions, the Senator from Alabama has arrived--and we are going to be engaged in a colloquy to discuss some of these issues.

We ought to be focusing on these 9.2 percent of Americans who cannot find work, millions of Americans who cannot find jobs. When I talk to the job creators, they are saying it is the President's position and his policies that have made matters worse--made matters worse with increasing health care costs as a result of the health care law, made matters worse as a result of the regulations that came out of Washington that add costs onto businesses, and making it worse in increased energy costs as the President continues to send energy jobs overseas, as he makes it harder and harder to explore for American energy.

I ask my colleague, Senator Sessions, to give us his thoughts, if I could, on the concerns we face as a nation without a budget, without a plan, without a roadmap, at a time of astronomical deficits, huge numbers, numbers that are too high for people even to understand and comprehend.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. BARRASSO. Madam President, I would say absolutely yes. If you are a family in Wyoming, I don't care if you are living in Casper or living in Kemmerer, either way you know you need to live within some construct of how much is coming in, how much you can spend--live within a budget. Families have budgets. They live within their budgets. The State of Wyoming has a budget. We have a balanced budget component of our constitution. It not only says we have to have a budget, it says we have to balance it. If you do not have a budget to begin with, I cannot understand how you can balance it.

Is it any surprise that we are $14 trillion in debt and we are borrowing $4 billion a day, $2 million a minute in this country, and we are borrowing a lot of it from China? It would seem we ought to be following the law--have a budget and then live within the budget, and it needs to be a responsible budget consistent with what is coming in.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. BARRASSO. The House has approved a budget. They presented a budget, debated a budget, discussed a budget, and passed a budget. There has been nothing in the Senate for over 800 days.

On the weekends, people at home tell me: We have to stop spending money we do not have. We expect better. We expect better of those who are elected to go to Washington and represent us. We expect better.

They also believe that the money they are sending to Washington--it is their money, not Washington's money--the money they are sending to Washington, people do not believe they are getting value for their dollar. If you asked ``Of every dollar you are sending in, how much value are you getting back,'' it is an alltime low--50 cents on the dollar. People don't think they are getting value.

People want an efficient government. That is not what they are finding today. They are finding amazing amounts of waste, fraud, and abuse. Fundamentally, they are not finding a budget, a roadmap, a plan, and then life within that. That is why I come to the Senate floor with my colleague from Alabama today to say the law is specific--not just in the State of Wyoming but also in the United States--that we need to have a budget.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. BARRASSO. I would say the only reason I know is someone intentionally does not want to bring a budget to the floor of the Senate. If a budget were on the floor of the Senate, then we could look through it, read it, people at home could look through it, have some input, call, write, talk to us at townhall meetings, and say we ought to try to amend this proposal to spend less money over here, more money over there, and try to decide the best way to work together as a nation to improve opportunities for people in this country.

That is what a family budget does. They don't have to by law, but smart families do that. They make plans, they think ahead, and not just 3 months or 6 months, families look ahead and put money aside for college opportunities. They think about whether they will need a new car, a roof sometime down the line--what will they need? That is what a budget is all about.

I see no reason fundamentally why there is no budget proposed by the majority party here on the floor for all of the country to take a look at, all of the country to say: Yes, change this, more here, less there, prioritize, and let the country work.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source