On the recordFebruary 4, 2010
As a member of the Blue Dog Coalition, I'm proud to stand in support of statutory PAYGO. Pay-as-you-go legislation was a key factor, as we have heard, in delivering the budget surpluses of the 1990s. The Republican-controlled Congress allowed pay-as-you-go to expire in 2002, contributing to the dramatic turnaround from a projected surplus of $5.6 trillion when President Clinton left office to a projected deficit of more than $11 trillion at the end of the last administration. Restoring statutory PAYGO will help bring our country out of the red and back into the black. As the saying goes, a journey begins with the first step. I'm proud to cast this vote as Washington takes the first step back to fiscal responsibility and sensible spending. Our path to fiscal responsibility starts today. Restoring PAYGO is the first step to enforcing fiscal discipline and removing the burden of Federal debt from the American people. It's my hope this will be the first of many steps that both Democrats and Republicans take to balance our budget and be good stewards of taxpayer funds.
