Angie Craig: “I ask my colleagues tonight to vote with me to waive the Budget Act. It is the first step to reigning in the…”

“I ask my colleagues tonight to vote with me to waive the Budget Act. It is the first step to reigning in the uncontrolled costs to mandatory spending programs. Your vote tonight merely extends the same treatment to mandatory spending that already exists to annually appropriated discretionary spending; that new programs will offset with savings in existing programs; that mandatory spending is out of control--we all know that. While this is a balanced budget in the outyears of 2020, and 2035, we will be looking at spending up to 200 plus percent of the gross domestic product. The Craig amendment will not affect a single current beneficiary of a single existing program. The Craig amendment will not affect a single person who will qualify to become a beneficiary under current entitlement programs. We need to start with a single, simple, first step, toward reigning in mandatory spending. An aye vote starts us in that direction.”