Richard Hudson: “This evening, I offer an amendment to the Energy and Water Appropriations bill that would cut spending back to the…”

“This evening, I offer an amendment to the Energy and Water Appropriations bill that would cut spending back to the fiscal year 2008 level. While I appreciate the work of the Appropriations Committee in crafting this important bill, I recognize that we should go further to cut reckless spending. Washington has a spending problem, and we can't afford to kick the can down the road any longer. My amendment makes an across-the-board cut of more than 11 percent to the bill in order to decrease the amount back to the fiscal year 2008 level, saving nearly $2 billion for the taxpayers. We are over $18 trillion in our national debt. This is merely a drop in the bucket, and we owe it to our constituents to cut even more to restore fiscal sanity in Washington. Defense accounts are exempt from this cut because Congress is expected to take up the National Defense Authorization Act in the near future to address those programs. Mr. Chairman, when I first ran for Congress, I was repeatedly asked: ``If you are elected, what programs would you cut?'' The answer I gave was: ``First, I would go back to 2008 spending levels, and then we will start cutting.'' My amendment does just this. It allows us to return to the point when we can finally get serious about paying down our national debt and saving future generations from economic disaster. I urge my colleagues to support this amendment. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.”