There’s a legal limit, the debt ceiling, on how much debt the federal government can incur. The United States recently reached that borrowing limit, although the Treasury Department is taking steps to push back the matter until later this summer.

Our nation’s fiscal situation is dire. This year alone, Washington will increase our national debt by $1.5 trillion, which now totals $14,300,000,000,000. This mountain of debt threatens the hopes and dreams of future generations. This is immoral. It must stop. I am willing to work with anyone in Congress who is serious about addressing the number one problem facing our nation.

Unfortunately, neither the administration nor Democrats in the Senate have offered any serious budget proposal. This is irresponsible and worsens our fiscal peril. Until we all take this seriously, it will be very difficult to pass legislation to put us on the path of fiscal responsibility.

Without a credible plan to restrain spending and spur economic growth, the administration has instead sought to force Congress into increasing the debt ceiling – for the 11th time in the last decade. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has admitted that the administration has no fallback plan if the Congress does not allow for still more federal borrowing.

On May 25, I wrote a letter signed by 22 of my Republican colleagues urging the president to develop a backup plan in case Congress does not raise the debt ceiling. Businesses and families across America have contingency plans, and the federal government should have one, too.

I hope that the administration and my colleagues in the Congress will come together to tackle our fiscal crisis before the Treasury runs out of options. However, I will not vote to increase the debt ceiling unless we adopt strong measures to rein in federal spending and balance our budget.