Ken Calvert: “One thing I want to make a point of, and because obviously this deficit is a problem. Everybody recognizes that. Seventy…”

“One thing I want to make a point of, and because obviously this deficit is a problem. Everybody recognizes that. Seventy percent of all our spending today is nondiscretionary spending, 70 percent. When I came to Congress 26 years ago it was 30 percent. Today those numbers have totally flipped. Now it is 30 percent discretionary, 70 percent nondiscretionary. Of the discretionary account, half of that goes to defense. The other half goes to nondefense discretionary. No way are we ever going to balance the budget on nondefense discretionary spending. At some point, we all need to come together, Republicans, Democrats, the President, and come to a budget agreement. It has been tried before and needs to be tried again. And the 70 percent of nondiscretionary spending has to be on the table and we have to bend those cost curves. We are not going to--and I dispute the fact that we are at an all- time high on NEH and the National Endowment for the Arts. In past years, those numbers were quite higher. {time} 2315 Those numbers have been cut down over the years, and we are trying to do the best we can on these discretionary accounts; but being what it will, this is not, I think, a wise cut. Money is going to every congressional district in the United States. Mr. Chair, I oppose this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time. The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment, as modified, offered by the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Grothman).…”