Budget Control Act of 2011

Floor Speech

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Mr. COSTA. Madam Speaker, this rule and the bill will further drive a wedge between the two parties rather than bringing us closer to an agreement, which we must have. It's been a week since the bipartisan discussions over the $4 trillion "grand deal'' broke down, and we've seen little progress toward a solution since then.

Missing in today's debate is a bipartisan approach toward our Nation's fiscal health. We must have a bipartisan approach. We can cut through the partisan rhetoric with a balanced package. For me, that means implementing the Simpson-Bowles recommendations to reduce spending by $4 trillion over the next 10 years, lowering tax rates, ensuring solvency of Medicare and Social Security, and stabilizing our debt.

The House should also consider a clean balanced budget amendment, H.J. Res. 2, which says the country can't spend more than it takes in. This amendment and the Simpson-Bowles recommendations must be coupled with a debt limit increase to get us through the next 18 months.

It's time for cooler heads to prevail. With the clock ticking down, our Nation's first-ever default is at hand. We cannot afford to wait a minute longer. Default is not an option.

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Mr. COSTA. Mr. Speaker, it has been one week since bipartisan discussions over the $4 trillion "grand deal'' broke down yet we have seen little progress toward a smaller package of spending cuts that would allow us to raise the debt limit and begin getting our fiscal house in order.

It's easy to point fingers and cast blame--and there's certainly plenty to go around--but fundamentally I believe the reason we have seen so little progress is that the American people aren't looking for a short-term solution or a small gesture. They want a "grand deal'' that will put us on a fiscally responsible path today and for the future.

We all have our own ideas about our nation's fiscal priorities, but what is missing in today's discussion is a bipartisan, centrist approach to addressing our nation's fiscal health, such as the recommendations by the Simpson-Bowles National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform.

No one party has all the answers, and no one party can do this alone. It's time to put our economy back on the path to fiscal sustainability, and this House should consider the Simpson-Bowles recommendations that aim to accomplish that goal by reducing spending by $4 trillion over 10 years, lowering tax rates, ensuring the solvency of entitlements such as Medicare and Social Security and stabilizing the debt.

To compliment the $4 trillion Simpson-Bowles plan the House should also consider a clean balanced budget amendment. H.J. Res. 2, is identical to legislation that passed the House in 1995 with 300 votes and I plan to support it if the House take it up. It is a commonsense approach to ensuring long-term fiscal responsibility by operating the federal government's finances in the same way every American family and even all 50 states must do.

This clean balanced budget amendment, coupled with the Simpson-Bowles recommendations and a debt limit increase to get us through the next 18 months, is a package I believe would find broad bipartisan support in both Chambers of Congress.

Yesterday the House debated Speaker BOEHNER's debt limit proposal, which was yet another example of the partisanship that has paralyzed Washington and disgusted the American people. Leading credit rating agency Standard & Poor's has said the Speaker's two-step approach to the debt limit could still result in a downgrade of our nation's credit rating because of the uncertainty it would create. I simply cannot bring myself to vote for legislation that would yet again call into question the full faith and credit of the United States.

With the possibility of a credit downgrade by national and international bond rating agencies looming over our head, kicking this can further down the road could mean a greater burden on the American people and American businesses in the form of higher interest rates, higher mortgage payments, negative impacts on retirements savings and higher student loans. This is unacceptable and--more importantly--completely avoidable.

It's time for cooler heads to prevail in order to resolve this economic crisis. A balanced approach that includes the Simpson-Bowles deficit reduction recommendations, a clean balanced budget amendment and a one-step, 18-month increase of our nation's debt limit could be the bipartisan solution that has been elusive through all of the partisan rhetoric. With the clock ticking down to our nation's first ever default we cannot afford to wait a minute longer.

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