On the recordMarch 22, 2013
Mr. President, I support budgets that make tough but necessary spending reductions, save our safety net programs, and preserve our commitment to protecting Americans and our interests at home and abroad. Facing our current debt disaster, there should be no sacred cows in the Federal budget. If there is waste, it should be eliminated. If government dependency is depressing individual initiative, we must reform those programs. Where important and valid programs are destined for bankruptcy, we must save them. Senator Paul deserves lots of praise for taking our debt problem seriously and coming up with a plan to solve it. While there are many objectives I support in his budget--including the repeal of ObamaCare and Dodd-Frank, allowing the Keystone Pipeline to move forward, and bringing our regulations under control through the REINS Act--I could not support it tonight. One of the most solemn promises I made to Floridians was to work to save Social Security without implementing personal accounts, which would actually make it harder to get the programs finances in order. This budget plan calls for Social Security personal accounts, something I do not support. On national security issues, we also can't walk away from our commitments abroad, which this budget would do by drastically reducing the size and scope of the U.S. military by ending agreements with foreign partners, closing many overseas installations, and bringing troops home from Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.…





