Jim Renacci

We got to cut rates. We got to reduce our unsustainable path, and we got to look at what we are spending.

If we continue to raise our taxes, business will just leave, companies will just leave, and we will have less and less revenue.

Would you agree that today, our corporate tax rate of 35 percent is the highest in the world?

Right now we are quite simply on an unsustainable path, and this proposed budget is recognition of that reality.

I applaud the President, your office, for putting together a budget that balances, over the next 10 years.

I think we should all be focused in on 3 percent, and that is why I am a big believer on tax reform and growth.

I want to applaud you and the President for proposing a long overdue balanced budget, and one that begins reducing our national debt.

We need to lower taxes. We need a territorial system. We need to make sure the U.S. is more competitive.

Our spending is out of control; our debt is out of control, and we have 70 percent of our spending, which is on autopilot.

If you cut 25 percent, you would basically have to gut our military and gut every bit of discretionary spending, because the 70 percent is on autopilot.

If you were reporting to Congress and the American people your greatest fiscal concern for our Nation, would you report that our spending is unsustainable?

Today I want to congratulate my colleague, my friend, and fellow Buckeye, Congressman Steve Stivers, on his promotion to brigadier general. I am thankful to be joined by my colleagues in the House and our Senators, Senator Brown and…

If we do nothing, I think the Federal deficit is projected to grow, if we just stay on the same track, $9.6 trillion in the next 10 years.

When we pass a budget, we should follow a budget.

I think that is the starting point that I hope at some point this committee can get to, having a good solid budget that then we live with.

So you would agree that, because of the Affordable Care Act and because premiums are going up, the only way to reduce the premiums is to raise the deductible, which in the end, who pays? The American people.

It is disingenuous today to ignore the fact that there are problems.

I do believe one of Congress' most important roles is oversight and that it is important we have this hearing.

I believe that we have a responsibility to take the information that we have received today, work to find a way to appropriately address the sustainability of Social Security so our children and grandchildren do not need to make even more…

Our Nation's finances are one of the most important pieces of information that lawmakers should consider when setting the policy agenda for Congress, but too often, I believe that many here in Washington want to ignore those true issues.

I believe that we must first start by fully understanding the financial challenges that we face not only in Social Security, but also in all unfunded liabilities of the United States.

Washington too often chooses to kick the can down the road, call things surpluses when they are truly liabilities, and fails to address the long-term challenges that face our country.

Like many of my colleagues, I often hear from my constituents in the district talking about the need to preserve Social Security and ensure that it remains a reliable source of income for retirees.

If we want to get people out of poverty and back to work, we need to at a minimum get them their GED.

If we want to get people out of poverty, it is the one thing I have learned from all these meetings, and into the workforce, we need to help them get their GED.