Virginia Foxx: “I rise today to discuss fiscal responsibility and earmark reform. I have spent my entire political career fighting to…”

“I rise today to discuss fiscal responsibility and earmark reform. I have spent my entire political career fighting to reduce wasteful spending so Americans can keep more of their hard-earned money. In the 109th Congress, I voted for H. Res. 1000 which provided for earmark reform by requiring full disclosure of earmarks on funding, authorization and revenue legislation so Members and the public will be able to easily identify projects which otherwise may be inappropriately hidden from adequate scrutiny in a timely manner. Earmark reform is important to providing accountability of government spending. It is truly disappointing and a shame that the Democrat leadership coupled it with the fiscally irresponsible policy of PAYGO, which forced many of us to vote 'no.' PAYGO is based on tenuous economic projections, is unreliable and, simply put, will make it easier to raise taxes and more difficult to give taxpayers back their money. I voted for the Republican motion to commit which included the earmark reform and excluded PAYGO. Unfortunately, the Republican motion did not succeed, and we now face fiscal policies where government can spend more and continually raise taxes on the American taxpayer.”