Orrin Hatch: “I rise to speak in support of the bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, the legislation that passed in the House last night and…”

“I rise to speak in support of the bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, the legislation that passed in the House last night and that I expect we will be voting on soon in the Senate. Anyone who hasn't been living in a cave for the last few weeks is aware of the controversy surrounding this legislation. However, while the bill is likely no one's idea of an ideal path forward, I believe the controversy stems more from political considerations than from policy or substance. Let me say one thing up front. I don't love this legislation. If we were living in the ``United States of Orrin Hatch'' this bill would look very different, but while I may not like parts of this deal very much, there are other things I like much less, including political brinksmanship on important matters and election-year posturing on complicated issues. This budget deal, while far from perfect, will help eliminate several hurdles that must be overcome in the near term and hopefully allow Congress to function and to actually govern over the next year. That said, there are some very important provisions in this bill that I think will be counted as wins for good government and will help us address some important issues. So I would like to take just a few minutes and talk about some of the specifics of this legislation and why I believe these provisions are important. First, as we all know, the bill would suspend the statutory debt limit through mid-March of 2017.…”