Jim Ryun: “when I go back to my district, the people in Kansas want to know what we are doing to control the national debt. I tell…”

“when I go back to my district, the people in Kansas want to know what we are doing to control the national debt. I tell them the Republicans are working to find savings in a bloated Federal Government. Then they hear from Democrats that we are cutting vital programs, such as Medicaid and food stamps. Well, Mr. Speaker, if it were up to the other side, entitlement programs would continue to grow at an unsustainable rate. Within 10 years, we would see the entitlement programs taking up 62 percent of the Federal budget. If we grow the government as our friends on the left would like us to, we will be faced with three choices: one, we would have to possibly raise taxes; or, two, eliminate all Federal programs other than entitlements; or, three, we will face an ever-expanding national debt that will threaten our entire economy. There are no easy solutions to this problem, Mr. Speaker, but if we do not act to reform these programs now while we have time, the problem will only grow worse as the national debt will only grow larger. Today, by passing the Deficit Reduction Act, those of us who believe in limited government are taking the first step to reverse a culture of spending. Today, we are standing behind our belief that bigger government is not better government. Today, we are making commonsense reforms that will result in less waste, fraud, and abuse. The Deficit Reduction Act is a small step to rein in Federal spending, but I think it is an important step.…”