Marsha Blackburn: “I want to begin by thanking the committee for the hard work that they have put into this bill and for the way the House…”

“I want to begin by thanking the committee for the hard work that they have put into this bill and for the way the House has approved reducing our budget over the last several years. If every department of the Federal Government were to be as active as we were in reducing our spending, our budget would be in better shape. This bill provides a net total of $3.482 billion in fiscal year 2017 base discretionary budget authority. That is $153 million below the President's budget request, $73 million above the enacted 2016 level, and $140 million above the level proposed by the Appropriations Committee for fiscal year 2016. However, I think there is more work that needs to be done. And thus, as I do for most of our appropriations bills, I am here with my 1 percent across-the-board spending reduction amendment. It would reduce discretionary budget authority by $31 million and outlays by $28 million. It exempts the Capitol Police, the Architect of the Capitol, Capitol Police Buildings, Grounds and Security, and the Sergeant at Arms. I am certainly aware that there is opposition to doing the penny-on- a-dollar cut. I have heard many times that cuts like this are damaging and we shouldn't do them, but I think that cutting an extra penny on every dollar not only goes to putting us on a better track, it helps to preserve our Nation's sovereignty for future generations. When we have $19.2 trillion in debt, our constituents are saying: What are you going to do about this?…”