Kevin Hern: “Last year we lost Senator Tom Coburn, a dear friend of mine, and a legend in both this Chamber and across the Capitol…”

“Last year we lost Senator Tom Coburn, a dear friend of mine, and a legend in both this Chamber and across the Capitol for his consistency and dedication to the fiscal responsibility of our country. Tom taught me so much about the way our government works, about our broken budget process, and about the importance of spending American tax dollars wisely. It is pretty clear that a lot of my colleagues have forgotten one monumental fact: that the Federal Government has no money of our own. Every dollar comes from the American people. When we are in this Chamber debating spending another billion here and a trillion there, it doesn't come from some bottomless bank account. It comes from the hardworking American people, and we can never take that for granted. I have with me today Senator Tom Coburn's black book, an outline of his deficit reduction plan in 2011 to get the United States on track to eliminate our debt and balance the budget. My colleague from Oklahoma, Senator Lankford, has taken on Tom's mantle as the fiscal hawk of the Senate and now produces a similar report detailing the many, many line items of waste and abuse in the Federal Government. In his memory, I helmed the Republican Study Committee Budget and Spending Task Force this Congress, and we produced what is still the only budget introduced to the House. My budget is not only a clear path back to black, as my friend Tom would say, it balances in just 5 years.…”