Pete Ricketts: “I rise today to note that the House, earlier today, passed a series of appropriations bills that will now be sent to the…”

“I rise today to note that the House, earlier today, passed a series of appropriations bills that will now be sent to the President's desk that will allow us to continue to fund our Agencies. And that is good news. It represents 11 of the 12 appropriations bills that we pass every year. I want to thank our Republican leader for bringing these bills to the floor. I want to thank our chair of the Appropriations Committee Susan Collins and Ranking Member Patty Murray for their work to be able to get that done. This is important work. One of the reasons I came to the U.S. Senate was to be able to help bring fiscal responsibility. As Governor of Nebraska, my budget grew at 2.8 percent per year, on average, across 8 years. That demonstrates the sort of fiscal responsibility you find in States like Nebraska. It is part of our 'Nebraska Solutions, Ready for America' is bringing that sort of fiscal responsibility here. It was sorely lacking under the Biden administration in Washington, DC. In 2019, the Federal Government, broadly speaking, spent $4.4 trillion, and we had a $900 billion deficit. Under Joe Biden's leadership, by 2024, that spending had grown to $6.8 trillion and a $1.9 trillion deficit, more than doubling the deficit, a 55-percent increase over those 5 years--a 55 percent-increase over 5 years in that spending. In 2025, the deficit had declined by 9 percent. Now, we still have a long way to go.…”