Francisco Canseco: “Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Today we are taking an important step towards changing the way Washington does business; and it…”

“Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Today we are taking an important step towards changing the way Washington does business; and it couldn't come at a more opportune time as our national debt crossed the $15 trillion threshold this week, which means that now on average every American household's share of the national debt is $127,899. Our Nation is in the midst of a spending- driven debt crisis. We have run three successive $1 trillion-plus deficits. We are borrowing approximately 40 cents out of every dollar the Federal Government spends; and the CBO estimates that, by the end of the decade, we'll be spending almost $1 trillion just to pay the interest on our debt. If we do nothing, the problem will get worse. We will continue spending, borrowing, and accumulating more debt, until one day our children and grandchildren and their futures are drowned in a sea of red ink. Our inability to get our fiscal house in order will leave them with a downsized American Dream. As a father of three children, this is something that I refuse to do. I am the son of Mexican immigrants who came to this Nation to provide their children with a better life and to live in a land where my opportunity would be limited only by how hard I worked and how big I could dream. I want to ensure that America remains a land of unlimited opportunity for our children and grandchildren.…”