Jim Banks: “Here we are again debating another spending package that does absolutely nothing to address our $22 trillion national…”

“Here we are again debating another spending package that does absolutely nothing to address our $22 trillion national debt. The bill before us today proposes to spend $24.5 billion, which is more than $1.4 billion over last year's total. This puts us further down a path toward busting the budget caps. Mr. Chair, I respect my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, but I sincerely worry that they do not understand the dangers that lay ahead with these bloated spending packages. Here is a glimpse. Our children will face a less prosperous future and our national security will be needlessly threatened through the inevitable sequestration that results from busting the budget caps. My amendment is simple. It would reduce nondefense spending in this bill by 14 percent, which is the level needed to avoid the outcome that I just described. There is no reason that Washington can't do what American families do each and every day, which is living within their budget. Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support this commonsense amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.”