The Debt Limit Bill is a responsible Step in the Right Direction
By: U.S. Rep. Juan Ciscomani (AZ-06)
The charged debate on raising the debt limit dominated headlines for months in Arizona and across the country, and only got more heated in the 97 days between President Biden’s first and second meeting with Speaker McCarthy.
The drumbeat of dire predictions got a lot of people worked up but did little to solve the actual problem. When the speeches finally came to an end, all the sky-is-falling scenarios amounted to little more than partisan rhetoric.
According to a recent poll, 60% of Americans supported raising our nation’s debt limit while cutting federal government spending. This context is key. Critics accused House Republicans of being extreme and unreasonable by insisting from the outset that spending reductions needed to be on the table.
Like so many of their arguments, it simply wasn’t true.
In fact, the legislation we passed reflects the priorities of most of the hardworking men and women I represent in southeastern Arizona. It’s a reasonable and responsible approach to dealing with the debt limit while laying the groundwork for reining in out-of-control government spending.
The Fiscal Responsibility Act passed with bipartisan support in the House and Senate and was signed into law by the President on June 3. Not everyone is completely happy with the end result — me included. However, I am proud to have supported the bill because it’s a good start.
As a conservative, I prioritize responsible governance. The reasons to support this legislation were both clear and compelling:
We avoid a default and we pay our bills;
We don’t do a “clean lift” with no spending behavior changes — unlike the last nine times under Democrats and Republican majorities;
We do not raise taxes;
We create no new government programs;
We included work requirements for unemployment benefits
We will spend less money next year than we did last year; and
We will implement the single largest deficit reduction in our nation’s history.
Factor in that all this was accomplished while protecting our sacred obligations to our seniors through Medicare and Social Security and increasing funding for our veterans. Two other major provisions — clawing back $28 billion in unspent COVID relief funds and pumping the brakes on President Biden’s reckless student loan forgiveness program — made me even more confident that this was the best deal on the table.
As significant as these accomplishments are, they amount to small steps in the right direction. We still have a lot of work to do. We must reduce government spending and continue our aggressive efforts at tackling our nation’s $32 trillion debt. Getting our financial house in order is like changing the direction of a large ship. To do so, we must turn it one degree at a time.
The Fiscal Responsibility Act also reflects our divided government — Republicans control the House and Democrats control the Senate and the White House. My constituents elected me to govern and get results, not get on TV and grandstand.
For me, that means closely examining the size and scope of the federal government. The next important step is the House appropriations process where Congress will determine the amount and purpose of federal government spending. As the only member of the Arizona congressional delegation on the House Appropriations Committee, I have a seat at the table where I will be combing through spending proposals line-by-line in the weeks and months ahead. I’m committed to forging a budget that responsibly funds our government.
For too long, Washington has had a spending addiction. Passage of the Fiscal Responsibility Act is a step in the right direction. It’s the beginning of a necessary and long overdue process of getting the federal government on a path towards fiscal sanity. It is not a final victory. I’ll take the wins in this bill and continue fighting for more. The work isn’t done.