On the recordFebruary 5, 2013
I thank the gentleman from Georgia for his exceptional work on this particular act. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of the PLAN Act. For the past few years, our government has been operating off of stopgap measures that have led to frequent partisan debates and negotiations, threatening government shutdowns, and withholding pay from our men and women in uniform. At a time when our country is more than $16 trillion in debt, all of which is saddled on our children and grandchildren, we must act on the years upon years of rampant, runaway Federal spending that has occurred under both political parties. To be effective, we must create a plan for how we spend the hard-earned taxpayers' dollars. That plan is a budget--a budget that needs to balance over time. The House has passed legislation each year that would work to balance our budget. Since the Senate will not take up our legislation that the country and the people of Florida so desperately need, we are calling upon the President to do his job: to propose a solution that will balance our budget throughout the next 10 years. The Senate has not passed a budget in nearly 4 years. On Monday, this President, for the fourth time, missed his legally obligated deadline for filing his budget request. We're requiring the Senate and the President to show some leadership by submitting a budget plan to preserve America's future.
