Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023

Floor Speech

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Mr. LAWLER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to voice my support for the Fiscal Responsibility Act. As I have said from the very beginning, we must negotiate, we must cut spending, and we cannot default.

The FRA reduces discretionary spending for the first time in decades, and it is the largest deficit reduction in our Nation's history. It cuts nondefense and nonveteran spending to below 2022 levels, one of the primary goals of the Limit, Save, Grow Act.

It saves taxpayers $2.1 trillion over the next 6 years while blocking $5 trillion in new taxes proposed by the Biden administration. The bill also caps spending at 1 percent growth over the next 6 years and through the appropriations process, House Republicans will have the opportunity to reduce spending even more.

That will help us take on the Biden administration's reckless spending head on, crack down on record inflation, and get our economy on the right track. This bill also protects Social Security, Medicare, and veterans' benefits, despite previous false claims by my Democratic colleagues that we were going to cut those vital programs.

It enacts critical permitting and NEPA reform, enacts safeguards on executive spending, and forces Congress to engage in a functional appropriations process.

The bottom line is this: With a divided government, no party is going to get 100 percent of what it wants. We all have a responsibility to govern, and default is not an option.

The Fiscal Responsibility Act puts us on the path to fiscal sanity, protects our commitment to veterans and seniors, and raises the debt ceiling so we will not default. This is a bill we should all support, and I will vote ``aye.''

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