John Ensign: “I am going to reluctantly support H.R. 1. It reduces government spending by about $61 billion below last year's levels.…”

“I am going to reluctantly support H.R. 1. It reduces government spending by about $61 billion below last year's levels. The reason I am reluctantly supporting it is because I don't think it goes far enough. We have heard the other side rail that the cuts are too large, but let me bring to the attention of my colleagues a few quotes. This is from ADM Mike Mullen, Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff: I believe that our debt is the greatest threat to our national security. We know our national debt is over $14 trillion. This year, we are spending, in excess of what we take in, almost $1.6 trillion. All we are talking about in the House bill is reducing that amount by $61 billion--a paltry amount. A few other quotes. This is from Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on February 17: It is an excessively high interest burden. It's unsustainable. With the President's plan, even if Congress were to enact it, and even if Congress were to hold to it and reduce those deficits as a percentage of GDP over the next 5 years, we would still be left with a very large interest burden and unsustainable obligations over time. He also said: Our deficits are too high. They are unsustainable. I think everybody agrees. They are unsustainable and, if left unaddressed, these deficits will hurt economic growth and make us weaker as a nation.”