We cannot afford to continue to run the country on cruise control. The national debt exceeds $23 trillion and counting. As such, it is imperative that the United States government learns to live within its means. American families carefully scrutinize their spending and Congress must do the same on behalf of the American people. As a member of the House Appropriations Committee, I have the privilege to carefully scrutinize the Administration's budget request each fiscal year and I take that responsibility very seriously.