Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023

Floor Speech

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Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I come from a town called Butler, Pennsylvania, and in that area, it is Pennsylvania's 16th Congressional District. In that district, the average annual income for a family of four is about $52,000.

Now, down here people laugh and say nobody can live on $52,000 a year. I said, in my district they do. In my district they do.

But let's talk about this in kitchen-table economics. Last year, we had about $4.9 trillion in revenue. We spent $6.22 trillion.

Kitchen-table economics is that you tell that family that earned $49,000, go out and spend $62,000, and they look at you like there is something wrong with your head. They say, you can't do that. I said, your government does. Your government does. They do it every year, and they do it with your tax dollars.

Listen, this is America's wake-up call. This isn't about the blue side of the House or the red side of the House. Look up in the gallery. That is red, white, and blue. That is America. Those are the people that pay our taxes.

All we are asking tonight is we look at the Fiscal Responsibility Act. What a weird name to be used in Washington. I wish we could stop playing this game of who struck John. Both parties have spent too much money for far too long.

Tonight is the night to turn this ship around. This is the USS Abraham Lincoln, and it takes more than one person at the wheel. We have all got to grab that wheel, and we have got to start pulling on that wheel to turn this ship around.

Tonight is a wake-up call, America. It is not a Republican wake-up call or a Democrat wake-up call, but it is an American wake-up call. Please, wake up.

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