Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 2010

Floor Speech

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION ON THE BUDGET FOR FISCAL YEAR 2010 -- (House of Representatives - April 02, 2009)

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Mr. PETERS. Madam Chair, I rise today in support of the budget resolution. Like the President, I came to Washington this year at a time when we are both inheriting record budget deficits, and battling the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. I am a strong believer in fiscal discipline, and I understand that the current budget deficits are unsustainable. However, I also know that it is next to impossible to bring our nation out of a deep recession and balance our budget at the same time. This budget is a blueprint for generating economic expansion. As our economy begins to grow again, deficits will be reduced over time.

This budget makes a great deal of progress on deficit spending, cutting the record budget deficit inherited from the last administration in half over the next five years. The budget also reaffirms the commitment of this Congress to the PAYGO rules, which require that new spending and tax cuts be offset by cuts in spending or new revenue so new measures do not increase our deficit and our national debt. The budget also ends the use of accounting tricks to hide costs of certain spending. For example, for the first time the budget includes both a full-year estimate for the cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan for the budget year as well as estimates for future costs.

The quickest way to restore balanced budgets is to increase growth, and at a time when our economy is simply not functioning this plan has the investments and incentives to make that growth happen. This budget includes substantial middle class tax cuts, and makes critical investments in education, health care reform, and energy independence that are necessary to revive the economy and ensure that our nation leads the globe in next generation technologies.

In Michigan and Oakland County, this means investments in programs like MEP, which helps small manufacturers retool and retrain as they implement the next generation of manufacturing practices and green technologies. It also means investments in new advanced vehicle technologies, which will help ensure that the next generation of green vehicles are designed and built in Michigan, not overseas.

Madam Chair, I was elected to office along with President Obama because voters were demanding change. This budget delivers on the promises we made to voters last fall, by restoring fiscal discipline, delivering middle class tax cuts, making critical investments in our future, and laying the groundwork for future reforms. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this blueprint for job creation and robust economic growth in America.

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