Joel Hefley: “I rise again today to offer an amendment to cut the level of funding in this appropriations bill by 1 percent. The…”

“I rise again today to offer an amendment to cut the level of funding in this appropriations bill by 1 percent. The amount equals $171 million. This is the fourth time that I have offered such an amendment in recent times. I understand the appropriators have a difficult time narrowing down the requests from Members and the administration for money. However, we have to draw a line somewhere. And I feel strongly that the projected deficit for next year, $475 billion, that the bills we are currently working on are simply too large. We can do something about the deficit. We can do it right now. By voting for my amendment, Members are stating for the record that the budget deficit is too large and that the American taxpayers should not be burdened in the future because we cannot control our spending today. It is important to offer amendments of this type, I think, and have votes for the record stating clearly who in this body believes in fiscal discipline.”