Our nation is currently at a fiscal crossroads, and leaders in Washington have to make some tough choices to tackle our massive federal debt. Federal spending is at the highest level as a share of the economy in more than 60 years, while federal revenue is at its lowest. The national debt more than doubled during the previous decade, and, due in large part to the financial crisis and ensuing recession, we are on track to again double the debt in the coming decade. Quite frankly, we have reached a point where our country’s escalating budget deficits are no longer sustainable and the Congress and Administration will need to make some difficult decisions to address these fiscal challenges. 
 
One of my top priorities as a U.S. Senator is to control spending and rein in our nation's escalating budget deficits. Given the size of the deficit, it is also important to channel our limited financial resources into programs that provide better outcomes and results for less money. Washington must shift from a "culture of spendthrift" to a "culture of thrift," where we look in every nook and cranny of the federal government for ways in which we can save and recover money. 
 
While there is no silver bullet to eliminating the federal deficit, there are a number of steps that can be taken to rein in federal spending and use our limited resources in a way that gives taxpayers the biggest bang for their buck. I have championed bills to provide the President with an enhanced rescissions authority to cut out wasteful spending, to require federal agencies to identify and recover improper payments and to require federal agencies to identify and streamline overlapping federal programs.
 
Additionally, in December 2010 after nearly a year of careful deliberation, the President’s bipartisan National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform released a report for Congress identifying ways to reduce the federal deficit in hopes of restoring fiscal sustainability to our long-term economic outlook. While I did not support each and every aspect of the Commission’s plan, the report provided a thoughtful blueprint for significant deficit reduction and made clear the need for a shared sacrifice to meet this historic challenge. Given the serious nature of the financial crisis we face, I am hopeful that my colleagues and I can work with the Administration  to build on the Commission’s recommendations and implement a meaningful deficit reduction plan in the 112^th Congress. 

Congress and the Administration must work together and have the courage to make the right decisions, not necessarily the easy or the popular decisions, to get our country back on the path of fiscal responsibility and prosperity.