On the recordFebruary 5, 2013
We've heard the criticism, this is a game. Well, any family that has found themselves in a financial crisis knows this is not a game. I'm one of those families. Eighteen years ago, I lost my job in a corporate merger. After 48 hours of depression, my wife and I woke up, made a pot of coffee, drew a line down the middle of the page, and on one side we wrote down, this is what we have coming in, on the other side we wrote down, this is how we're going to spend it. In an economy when far too many of our friends and family members are out of work, there's no question in my mind that while we're debating this, there are families that are going through that exact exercise. Those families that are making those tough decisions in their family budgets have every reason to expect their policymakers to do the same. We shed tears around the kitchen table that morning. Those families are shedding tears around the kitchen table right now. They know that's not a game. They expect Washington to come up with a budget, and that's what this bill does. This bill says, Mr. President, give us a budget. Show us when it balances. Tell us when you have a balanced budget. We ask the President to do the same thing that American families are doing.
