Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 2016 -- Continued

Floor Speech

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Mrs. FISCHER. Mr. President, I rise today to speak about the budget
proposal that has been offered by Senate Republicans, which will help
Nebraska families--and all American families--have a brighter future.

For far too long, families have been paying more and forced to expect
less from an increasingly inefficient and out-of-touch Federal
Government. While we have made progress, our economy is not where it
should be, and, unfortunately, the government's spending habits remain
unsustainable.

Our $18 trillion debt isn't just a threat to our economic security.
It is a threat to our national security. It is time to offer bold
solutions and tackle these problems.

Republicans were sent to Congress to stop this irresponsible
mentality--to stop wasteful spending, to balance our budget, and to
allow our economy to grow and flourish. Families all across this Nation
have been forced to tighten their belts. Now it is Washington's turn.

I am here today to highlight some of these initiatives and to show
what Senate Republicans are doing to safeguard the hard-earned tax
dollars entrusted to us by the American people.

Back home, many Nebraskans are wondering how this budget will affect
their families and their daily lives. With that in mind, the budget we
have presented will adhere to three basic rules--cut spending, balance
the budget, and do it all without raising taxes.

This budget cuts $5.1 trillion in spending over 10 years. The budget
preserves the spending caps put in place by the Budget Control Act.

Like many of my colleagues on the Armed Services Committee, I believe
national defense must be the Federal Government's No. 1 top priority.

I have the honor of serving as chairman of the Emerging Threats and
Capabilities Subcommittee of the Armed Services Committee. I fully
understand the very real threats that our Nation faces each and every
day. But in order for us to ensure our military men and women have the
resources and training they need to fulfill the missions that we give
them, we must make hard decisions and we must set priorities.

Some red lines just won't disappear. The red ink of our debt is here
to stay unless we make some real changes.

Our budget preserves the needed pressure to compel Congress to make
those hard decisions in order to properly fund the security of our
Nation. This budget also provides much-needed resources for
infrastructure improvements all across our Nation. It does this through
a deficit-neutral reserve fund to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure
with a new highway bill in May.

The budget resolution provides this mechanism so that a bill can move
forward, allowing authorizers to find either new revenue or offsets in
order to extend the life of the highway trust fund.

Ultimately, the committees of jurisdiction have to write the policies
and the deficit-neutral reserve fund gives them the flexibility to do
so.

As chairman of the commerce Subcommittee on Surface Transportation
and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety, and Security, I know there
is much work to do on our roads, our bridges, our ports, and our
harbors. I also believe that infrastructure is another core duty and
responsibility of the Federal Government. For us to meet that
responsibility, we have to learn to live within our means.

Second, this budget doesn't raise a dime in taxes--not one dime. The
answer to our debt crisis isn't taxing hardworking Americans more.
Rather, the answer rests in a government that is wiser--a more prudent
steward of those tax dollars that every American entrusts us to spend
wisely.

This is a very timely topic because millions of Americans are
preparing to file their taxes right now. An estimate from the National
Taxpayer Advocate in 2013 indicates that Americans collectively spend
6.1 billion hours and $168 billion on efforts to navigate through our
very confusing Tax Code and to file their taxes.

Hard-working Americans--including many who work two or three jobs to
support their families--should not be expected to dedicate these
countless hours to comply with all these burdensome requirements, nor
should they spend their money and have to hire expensive accountants to
do so. When the income tax was first ratified in 1913, the entire Tax
Code was 400 pages. Today's Tax Code and the regulated rules now total
more than 73,000 pages. While these regulations cause stress and
frustration for families, they also create financial hardships that
hold back businesses, and they hold back job creators.

Tax day is an annual reminder that our complex laws desperately need
to be reformed. I remain committed to promoting a simpler, fairer tax
system that provides certainty and one that encourages economic growth.
Moreover, the vast majority of economists agree the single best way to
create jobs and the single best way to generate economic growth is
through comprehensive tax reform.

This budget sets us on a path toward that needed reform. It is my
hope that our colleagues on the other side of the aisle will work with
us so we can accomplish this. Let's take a moment now and look at the
President's budget proposal. His plan would raise taxes by $1.8
trillion to pay for new spending projects.

I think the President's budget is tone deaf. It is tired. It is the
same old tax-and-spend policies that got us into this mess in the first
place. There is nothing in it that actually cuts spending or addresses
this mounting debt.

Under the President's budget, interest rates alone will triple from
the $229 billion we currently spend to more than $769 billion a year.
Let me repeat that. We currently spend more than $229 billion per year
on our interest alone. That is going to triple to over three-quarters
of a trillion dollars by 2025. That is money we could use to reinvest
in our military, we could use to pay down our national debt or that we
could use to improve the Nation's infrastructure. I think the
President's proposal is a recipe for a national disaster.

Our budget offers a realistic way forward. Importantly, this budget
helps to keep Congress on track regarding the appropriations process.
For the first time in a long time, Congress is meeting the budgetary
deadlines as prescribed by law. Passing appropriations bills on time
allows us to provide the American people with more certainty in
planning for their futures.

I have been a Member of the Senate for 2 years. In that time, I have
seen firsthand the regulatory burden that is hindering our small
businesses and preventing growth. I have seen the regulatory burden
that hurts families and makes it hard for them to get ahead. Our budget
provides a framework to lighten that burden, to lighten that burden of
government and reduce the cost of responding to Washington bureaucrats.
Because of the spending reductions in this budget, the CBO has
estimated the size of the economy will grow by 1.5 percent per person
in 2025. That is going to provide an additional $1,200 in income to
families each year. That is the type of growth Nebraskans care about.
With additional money in their pocket, middle-class families can save
more and they can reinvest in their children and their future
potential. They can buy a home. They can save for their kids'
education. They can put something away for their retirement or maybe
take a family vacation.

In order to make this budget work, we have to address things that
don't work. This week marks the fifth anniversary of ObamaCare. That is
a law that does not work. ObamaCare has been harming our economy and
millions of families ever since it was signed into law. I have been
contacted by over 19,000 Nebraskans who have expressed to me their
concerns and their frustrations with this law.

Passage of this budget provides Congress the chance to send a bill to
the President's desk to repeal and replace ObamaCare once and for all.

I would also like to touch on some of the amendments I will be
offering and explain how they will help Nebraska's families and
Americans all across this Nation. My amendments cover a broad range of
topics from national defense to pay equity, education, and regulatory
relief. My amendments help families. They help families have more
economic security, and they ensure our own national security.

One amendment, which passed yesterday with bipartisan support, will
bolster the basic principle of equal pay for equal work. It reinforces
and it updates existing law to protect employees from retaliation for
seeking information or discussing their salaries. My nonretaliation
language closely tracks one of President Obama's April 2014 Executive
orders on that very same issue. This is a commonsense approach to a
very important issue that impacts women all across our Nation.

I have also worked across the aisle with Senator Angus King from
Maine on an incentive-based paid family and medical leave proposal. Our
idea is not more one-size-fits-all redtape. It is a tax incentive for
employers, particularly employers of hourly and low-wage workers. It
offers a limited amount of paid leave so workers can meet the complex
family needs they have.

A common complaint I hear from Nebraskans is regulatory overreach,
particularly with the EPA. That is why I have offered an amendment that
would prohibit the consideration of greenhouse gas emissions under the
National Environmental Policy Act. The Obama administration has
proposed guidance on how Federal agencies should consider greenhouse
gas emissions and climate change impacts while conducting NEPA reviews.
This was not the intent of NEPA, and regulations like these could cause
significant project delays.

In my home State of Nebraska, NEPA reviews already take far too long,
especially when it comes to our highway projects. Time and resources
are being wasted on bureaucratic paperwork that adds no meaningful
environmental benefit. My amendment would stop these burdens and end
the unnecessary process that would delay operations without improving
environmental outcomes.

The American people want a government that abides by commonsense
principles. It is our responsibility to ensure their money is being
responsibly used by this government, by us. Every day that we move
forward and that we move our country forward, if we can not add the
burdens onto the American people, that is a good day. This budget is a
step in that direction. It provides the right tools to rescue a
prosperous America for future generations. We have a responsibility to
offer a better future, to offer a better future than the one we were
handed. Let's step up to the plate and make that happen.

I yield the floor.

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