Political Quotes

On the recordMarch 21, 2013
Mr. President, I rise today to raise my voice in this important dialogue about the budget currently pending before this body. I am thrilled as, first, we are actually having this debate. It has been 4 long years since we passed a budget. I am deeply disappointed the President's budget is not part of this discussion. He missed his first Monday in February requirement, and it must not fit into his schedule to produce one until the second week of April. Budgets are economic documents, but they are also much more than that. Budgets reflect moral choices we make as a nation. They shape the kind of society we will build for the future. Budgets are about setting priorities. Republicans realize we have a moral obligation to spend the American people's hard-earned dollars wisely. When those tax dollars are paid into the government, we have an obligation to be careful with them. We should spend them only in areas that we need to cover a constitutionally authorized function of government and not $1 more. That is why we support reforms to fix programs that Washington should be funding, to eliminate programs that it shouldn't be funding and to balance the budget in the process. We all know the Federal Government wastes hundreds of billions of dollars each year, and the President should work with Congress to identify and remove wasteful areas within the budget. My office has been focused on a very simple message that seems to make sense to every American: Cut this, not that.…
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Bill Lee
Republican · Tennessee

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