To Curb Congress' 'Spending Addiction,' 27 Republicans Push for New Resolution
Amid Democratic visions that amount to more than $4 trillion in new spending proposed by President Joe Biden, Republicans are demanding a halt before uncontrolled spending pushes America into a fiscal grave.
House Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Biggs introduced a resolution on Thursday that labels the national debt a threat to U.S. security.
According to a news release posted on the Arizona Republican’s website, the resolution “recognizes that deficits are unsustainable, irresponsible, and dangerous and calls on the House of Representatives to restoring regular order in the appropriations process and to commit to addressing the fiscal crisis faced by the United States.”
“I first introduced this resolution in 2018, arguing our $21 trillion debt was a threat to our national security. Yet Congress has failed to take any meaningful action to curb its spending addiction and has since added an additional $7 trillion dollars to our debt,” Biggs said.
The debt piled on over the past three years “works out to more than $21,000 for every American citizen,” he said.
Biggs noted that, despite the vast debt, politicians want to keep spending.
“And yet, just today, the House passed a bill to spend an additional $1.9 billion on Capitol security without bothering to find any savings to offset that spending. Our current actions are unsustainable, and I fear will be our demise,” he said.
“I hope this resolution sheds some light on the size of our debt and what it means for every American. I will continue fighting in Congress to push back on unnecessary federal spending and working towards balancing the federal budget.”
The resolution shows the stark state of the American debt, noting that the 2020 fiscal year left the U.S. government with a one-year deficit of over $3 trillion.
The resolution states that as of May, the “total public debt outstanding was more than $28,000,000,000,000, resulting in a total interest expense of more than $390,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2020” and that “the total public debt as a percentage of gross domestic product was 143.00 percent.”
The resolution, which noted that the last balanced federal budget came in 1997, further stated that, as of Tuesday, “the debt owed per citizen was $84,940 and $225,309 per taxpayer.”
Rep. Biggs warns of swelling national debt as Democrats push $2T in COVID relief – https://t.co/B6mKIkXbLA #OANN pic.twitter.com/2GKIsmDsJr
— One America News (@OANN) February 6, 2021
We’re at risk of consequences both dire and preventable, due to:
1. China’s quest to become the world’s superpower
2. Climate change
3. Crippling national debtThe U.S. must not continue to ignore or minimize warnings on these critical issues. https://t.co/m5A1qZvMz7
— Senator Mitt Romney (@SenatorRomney) May 13, 2021
There are 26 Republican co-sponsors of the resolution as of Thursday, including Reps. Matt Gaetz of Florida, Louie Gohmert of Texas, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Debbie Lesko of Arizona.
President Ronald Reagan’s birthday was yesterday. His words about rising deficits and national debt ring true today. #fixthedebt pic.twitter.com/tWtnVhbrK1
— Fix the Debt (@FixtheDebt) February 7, 2018
The size of the debt has become a debating point for Republicans pushing back against the Biden administration’s spending plans.
“We think having a debt the size of our economy for the first time since World War II already doesn’t argue for adding $2 trillion more when the country is clearly on the way back,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said in speaking of Biden’s infrastructure proposal in March, according to The Washington Post.
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