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Congress: Get a handle on federal spending
Since that time our nation has endured several trying and unexpected circumstances that have placed an unprecedented strain on our financial resources. In the years since the September 11th terrorist attacks, the economy has persevered through the bursting of the stock market bubble, a recession, and rising oil prices. We have put more resources into the war on terror to protect our citizens and make our country safer. In 2005, devastating hurricanes destroyed many miles of the Gulf Coast and displaced hundreds of thousands of families. As a result, Congress enacted more than $101 billion in hurricane relief. These unexpected expenditures drove federal spending to the highest levels we've seen since World War II. But Congress is making great strides in reducing the federal budget deficit. Entitlement spending is overwhelming our financial resources and is projected to nearly double over the next decade. Excluding interest on the debt, entitlement spending represents 56 percent of all federal spending and is expected to grow to 62 percent in 10 years, which is nothing short of an inevitable crisis. At the end of last year, Congress cut mandatory spending by nearly $40 billion over the next five years. As Chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, I put forth a plan to reduce agriculture spending by $3 billion over the next 5 years. I am co-sponsoring legislation that will make serious reforms to our nation's broken budget process. The "Stop Over-Spending (S.O.S) Act," introduced by Senate Budget Committee Chairman Judd Gregg, RNH, includes giving line-item veto authority to the president; capping discretionary spending, creating two commissions to study the accountability and efficiency of government programs as well as examining and providing solutions to the impeding entitlement crisis; and instituting biennial budgeting to make the current budget process more efficient.
If we don't get a handle on federal spending and make serious reforms now, we will pass this burden on to our children and grandchildren. I believe that as Congress restrains discretionary spending and continues to reevaluate entitlement spending, we can achieve the muchneeded reforms to our broken budget process, put an end to wasteful spending, and implement the fiscal responsibility the taxpayer deserves.
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