Washington's Fiscal Insanity

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. MANN. Mr. Speaker, when I come to this floor, I often speak about how our brightest days are yet to come, about the next generation of Americans, and about the future we should be working to build for them.

Currently, the Biden administration and Washington's embrace of fiscal insanity is a stumbling block to reaching that future. In November, America's national debt climbed to $36 trillion.

This is not normal. Washington, D.C., has a spending addiction, and it is just expected that Americans and future generations of Americans will pay for it. Our Nation, our children, our future grandchildren, and our future great-grandchildren cannot afford for us to continue kicking the can down the road.

Last year, the U.S. Census revealed that the median household income was nearly $80,000. Today, if everyone decided to pitch in and tackle our debt, every American household would need to contribute almost $273,000 to bring our balance to zero.

Compare that price tag to the average mortgage in the United States, which is about $245,000. Our national debt 4 years ago was nearly $28 trillion. Over the course of 1,400 days, the United States accumulated a debt of $68,352 per second.

No American family could survive that way. Yet, year after year, this is the way our Federal Government acts. This is not sustainable.

If any Member of this body had a loved one who was racking up debt at this rate, none of us would encourage them to mindlessly continue their spending habits. We would do what we could to help them evaluate their spending and get them back on the right track.

Yet, only about half of this body seems to care about how our Federal Government spends our tax dollars. Our fiscal house is in utter disaster, and we need to get serious and start finding solutions.

Since I was sworn into Congress, I have sounded the alarm on our national debt. I have opposed bloated spending packages that only focused on funding far-left wish lists. I fought to reduce and reprioritize our Federal spending. I have challenged this body to think about the blank checks we are writing and ask ourselves: Is there a way to do this more efficiently?

This petition has often been ignored while Washington sticks to business as normal and spends, spends, spends. Enough is enough. This is not fiscal responsibility. This is fiscal insanity.

On November 5, 2024, America made it clear that we no longer want business as usual in this town. It is time to get our fiscal house in order and to get our country back on track.

As America approaches its 250th birthday, President-elect Trump was spot-on in creating the Department of Government Efficiency as a perfect gift to our Nation and to the next generation of Americans.

Mr. President, hear me loud and clear: We will work with you to make our government work for the people again, to make it efficient again, and to clean up our fiscal house. Let's work together to end the Federal Government's out-of-control spending once and for all.

This challenge is not going to be easy, but America is worth it. The future of our country is worth it. The next generation of Americans is worth it.

I know that we can do it. We are going to have to do it together, and our brightest days truly are yet to come.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source