Issue Position: Responsible Spending

Issue Position

Congressman Cuellar is a current Member of the Blue Dog Coalition, the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition in Congress. This democratic coalition is committed to restoring responsible spending in Washington and they've worked hard to bring back the budget rules of the 1990s which helped turned then record deficits into record surpluses.

In the 111th Congress, the Blue Dog Coalition championed the return of Pay-As-You-Go (PAYGO) Spending Rules for Congress. PAYGO spending rules helped create a projected $5.6 trillion surplus in 2001 by ensuring that every dollar spent is offset by another dollar of savings elsewhere. Unfortunately in 2002, Congress let PAYGO rules expire and by 2010, the nation saw a record $12 trillion deficit.

Congress and the President brought PAYGO back into law, by passing the vitally important legislation through both the House and Senate.

HR 2142, the Government Performance and Results Modernization Act?, is legislation authored by Congressman Henry Cuellar and was recently signed into law on January 4, 2011.

This law would require Federal agencies to set clear performance goals that can be accurately measured and publicly reported in a more transparent way. It brings accountability and more information on what works and what does not work in the government for lawmakers to make better informed budgetary decisions.

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