Altmire on State of the Union Address

January 27, 2010

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) -- U.S. Congressman Jason Altmire (PA-04) tonight made the following statement after President Obama’s State of the Union Address. Altmire is an original co-sponsor of the Statutory Pay Go Act (H.R. 2920), legislation that would force Congress to pay for new spending and prevent it from adding to the federal deficit.

“The President gave Congress a solid proposal to reduce America’s budget deficit. Freezing discretionary federal spending is a strong first step, but we must do more. I am hopeful that, in tandem with the spending freeze, Congress will act to make Pay-As-You-Go budget rules law. During the 1990s, pay-as-you-go budgeting helped America move from budget deficits to record surpluses. When Congress abandoned pay-go in 2002 and adopted a ‘charge it to the credit card’ mentality, our national debt exploded.

“I hope that Congress will adopt each of these proposals and require itself to pay for new spending. By doing this, we can both reduce our budget deficit and lay the groundwork for America’s long-term prosperity.”

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Watch Jason’s acceptance speech after receiving the Special Recognition Award from the American Legion.