While we clearly face budgetary challenges ranging from the hurricane recovery efforts on the Gulf Coast to funding the ongoing War on Terror, we now face an $8 trillion debt.  The interest payments amount to wasted money.  We must look for ways to pay for necessary programs without borrowing at the expense of our children and our future.  We need to make reforms and reduce unnecessary spending to make up for some of this cost.

The Deficit Reduction Act, which passed the House with my support by a vote of 217-215 on November 18th, provides a net savings of $50 billion by slowing the growth of "mandatory" spending over the next five years.  This will help provide a down-payment towards hurricane recovery and reconstruction costs. 

This bill will also begin a longer-term effort at slowing the growth of entitlement spending, which, if left unchecked, will rise from 54% of the federal budget to 62% within ten years.  It will also stimulate reform of these programs, many of which are outdated, inefficient, and excessively costly.

We must take these critical first steps to regain control of mandatory spending, and begin the reforms needed so these programs will be able to serve those who need them most, without crowding out other priorities.  We live in challenging times, and we must share some sacrifice and tighten the belt of the federal government.