Pat Fallon: “I thank my dear friend from West Texas for yielding me time. Mr. Speaker, time and again, my colleagues on the other…”

“I thank my dear friend from West Texas for yielding me time. Mr. Speaker, time and again, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have put our country in a financial choke hold. Mr. Speaker, they believe that the only solution to fix any of our country's problems is to spend and to spend, and you know what, and spend even more. Well, I have to ask: Where has that got us? I will tell you where. On a road to financial oblivion. Our Federal debt is approaching $31 trillion; that is 31,000 billions. Our annual deficit was nearly $3 trillion in FY21, and I expect a similar number at the end of FY22. We are experiencing a 40-year high in inflation precisely because of this runaway, reckless, and highly irresponsible government spending. We are seeing higher prices that are disproportionately harming the working poor and the middle class. And Americans are tired of spending over half their hard-earned paychecks just to pay for the basic necessities of life. This body never has had a revenue problem. This body has a spending problem. It is an important distinction. And why? You know, a school district can't spend more than it takes in. A city can't. A county can't. A State can't. But the Federal Government does because they have a printing press down the street. So what can be done? Because to be frank, when you talk to people at home, they are starting to lose hope. Time is running out.…”