Cut, Cap, and Balance Act of 2011

Floor Speech

Ms. RICHARDSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong opposition to H.R. 2560, the so-called "Cut, Cap, and Balance the Federal Budget Act.''

This bill should properly be called the "Cut, Cap, and End Medicare and Destroy Social Security Act,'' or quite plainly the "Cut, Cap, and Plunge the United States into Default Act.''

Mr. Speaker, this is exactly what will happen if this legislation is passed. My colleagues across the aisle would have us believe that the proposed legislation is the answer to all the debt crisis but any attempt to balance the budget on the backs of seniors, veterans and America's working families isn't an answer; it's a cruel joke, but one with real consequences.

The American people did not send us here to play games. Instead, they want us to work together to adopt fiscally sound pro-growth policies that puts our financial house in order and will give a rocket boost to our economy so that it creates millions of good-paying jobs for all of our people.

We can do this. We did it in the 1990s when under the leadership of President Clinton we balanced the budget four consecutive years, paid down the national debt, created 23 million new jobs, and left $5 trillion in projected surpluses.

It is not a serious proposal to legislate a spending cap of 18 percent of GDP, a level that has not occurred since 1966, before the escalation of the Vietnam War.

But this isn't 1966. It's 45 years later, and in 2011 we face greater challenges. Our population has increased by 57 percent, we are living nearly 10 years longer on average, and the percentage of citizens age 65 and up has climbed to 13 percent.

In my district 63,000 men and women receive Medicare annually and 40,000 receive Social Security, and tens of thousands more will soon reach eligibility age. How can I look them in the eye and tell them that the benefits they are entitled to, that they have worked so hard for over the years, are not coming?

More Americans than ever rely on Medicare and Social Security to pay for the ever increasing costs of health care and provide for themselves in retirement. In my district, Social Security constitutes 90% or more of the income received by 34 percent of beneficiaries (21 percent of married couples and 43 percent of non-married beneficiaries).

Passing H.R. 2560 will result in draconian cuts to these vital benefits. Doing so would leave our most vulnerable citizens exposed and unprotected. I cannot and will not support a proposal that will inflict such grave hardship on the most vulnerable of our citizens while asking nothing of those who benefited most from the reckless economic policies of the previous administration.

Mr. Speaker, the times are serious but this legislation is not. In two weeks the debt limit will be reached so time is of the essence. This legislation, however, is a waste of time and has no chance of ever becoming law. We should reject this proposal and take up a serious proposal to resolve the debt crisis and maintain our country's A+ credit rating.

It is difficult to take seriously a proposal that conditions, as this bill does, paying the nation's bills upon the approval by the House and Senate, and submission to the states for ratification, of a radical balanced budget amendment that enshrines the notorious Ryan Budget in the Constitution and makes the discredited theory of trickle-down economics the law of the land. That is a prescription for economic disaster.

Passage of this gimmick proposal will virtually ensure that America will default on its financial obligations for the first time in history, with catastrophic consequences for our nation and the global economy.

Seniors will not receive their Social Security checks; funding to train, equip, deploy, and pay military and law enforcement personnel will be withheld; interest rates will rise; the value of pensions and retirement portfolios will fall; and jobs will be lost.

Mr. Speaker, this bill is nothing more than political theater; at best a cheap gimmick to appease the Tea Party base of the majority party in the House. But it's not the right thing for our country.

What we need right now is for responsible leaders to act responsibly. As legislators, our constituents are looking to us to get serious about the serious work we need to do to protect the economy, our people, and the nation's unrivaled record of creditworthiness. They deserve no less.

For all these reasons, I stand in strong and unyielding opposition to H.R. 2560 and urge my colleagues to join me in rejecting this radical and dangerous proposal.

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