Legislative Update by Congressman Mike Ross

Increasing the Debt Limit
 
November 19, 2004
 
This past September, the Administration notified Congress that our government would soon be approaching the federal debt limit of $7.384 trillion, and that Congress would need to raise the limit on the amount of debt our country can incur. This request stemmed from the Treasury Department's estimate that the national debt would exceed the statutory debt limit before the end of the year. 

The federal debt limit has already been exceeded. And in order to avoid breeching the statutory debt limit until Congress reconvened November 16th, the Treasury relied on cash taken from government trust funds and by suspending investment in those funds to operate our government.

Taking such action is absolutely irresponsible. In September, fellow conservative Blue Dog Coalition Member Charlie Stenholm of Texas proposed an amendment that would prohibit the Secretary of the Treasury from taking money from the Social Security trust fund, the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Trust Fund, the Military Retirement Trust Fund, the Government Securities Investment Fund, the Unemployment Trust Fund, railroad retirement trust funds, the DOD Education Benefit Trust Fund and the Black Lung Disability Trust fund to fund our government. This amendment was introduced in an effort to force Congress to take responsibility for the increase in the nation's debt by approving an increase in the debt limit before adjourning in October instead of waiting until we return to our nation's capital later this month. The House passed legislation with the amendment, but the Senate has not yet taken action.

We should have a full and open debate on whether to increase our national debt limit. The Republican leadership's tax plan funded tax cuts, not by cutting spending, but with borrowed money that has given us the largest budget deficit in our nation's history for a second year in a row. If this pattern of spending continues, our children and grandchildren will be left with a daunting financial burden.

Increasing the debt limit is now necessary, but Congress is obligated to re-examine our budget policies in an effort to reverse the current financial slump we find ourselves in. Increasing the debt should be an absolute last resort, not the solution. We must restore some common sense, fiscal discipline and accountability to the budget process just as we all have to do as families and small business owners, and I will continue to work with my colleagues in a bipartisan manner to stop deficit spending and move toward a balanced budget.
 
 


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