Mike Pence: “I thank the gentleman, having not brought my reading glasses. What we are doing here is adjusting the arc from 6.4…”

“I thank the gentleman, having not brought my reading glasses. What we are doing here is adjusting the arc from 6.4 growth to 6.3 percent. And as the gentleman from Georgia just said moments ago, in Washington that is what passes for a cut. And that is just false advertising in America today, and the American people are on to it. They know under this bill Medicaid will grow by 7 percent. They know that student financial aid will continue to increase. And they also know that there is a billion, a 50 percent increase, in low-income home energy assistance, over $1 billion in additional resources available. This is modest, but meaningful pruning of the Federal budget. It is not, even though it may warm this conservative's heart, it does not represent the hard choices and deep cuts that, candidly, future Congresses and future generations will have to make to meet the unfunded obligations that this government faces in the next 50 years. So I rise today to say, this is a good start. It is time to put our fiscal house in order. It is time to take that first step toward fiscal restraint. I urge my colleagues to see this in context. For conservatives for whom it is not enough, accept it as an important first step. And for those less conservative in the Congress than me, which is most, see this as a modest first step in the direction of fiscal restraint that is so much needed in the wake of catastrophes of nature.”