On the recordFebruary 15, 2011
everyone agrees that the FAA plays an important role in air safety. I don't think there is any real discussion or debate on either side in that regard. My amendment calls, though, for having spending levels at 2008. This is actually what is going to be produced out of the House. The House has already published their spending proposals, and most of their spending proposals will be at the 2008 level. This is a small downpayment on the debt. Some say this is the wrong place to start, but you have to start somewhere. Everybody says they are going to be for balancing the budget or tackling the debt or doing this or that, but you don't get there unless you cut spending. Now, you can't create a situation where you make it an either/or situation--either we have air safety or we don't have air safety--depending on a spending level. Perhaps you can spend money more wisely. Perhaps the job of a legislator is to find out how you spend money, how you find savings, and how you make do with less. If we don't, we are never going to get out of this problem. The deficit is an enormous burden on all of us--on our kids and grandkids. The last election was about the deficit, about the mounting debt, but the other side doesn't seem to have listened. They also need to understand what the deficit does to jobs. Our national debt now is approaching our gross domestic product. That means our debt is about equal to what we produce as an economy for a year as a whole country.
