Washington, DC – Rep. John Culberson (TX-07) issued the following statement on the House Resolution disapproving President Obama’s request a $1.2 trillion increase in the debt limit, the final increase included in S. 365, the Budget Control Act (BCA). Rep. Culberson previously voted to disapprove of the first request on September 14, 2011.
“I voted to disapprove of the President’s request to once again raise the debt on American taxpayers. In August, we avoided a downgrade of the U.S. credit rating while preserving our core principles in an agreement that provided an opportunity to get our fiscal house in order. However, the administration has not held up their end of the agreement to make drastic changes to reverse unrestrained spending and get our economy back on track.”
“The President’s request will bring our national debt to $16.394 trillion. This is an increase of $5.079 trillion in just three short years. President Obama has proposed three straight budgets with more than $1 trillion in deficit spending. No other U.S. President has ever proposed half that much. The spending must stop. We must restore the constitutional vision of a limited government and eliminate decades of bureaucratic roadblocks to job growth.
“Constitutional conservatives only control one-half of one-third of the government, and the federal government has been hardwired for decades to spend ever increasing amounts of our tax dollars, so we were facing very long odds in the fight to control spending. However, the American people and conservatives in Congress have had enough. I have co-authored the Balanced Budget Amendment every year since 2001, and I am an original cosponsor of the Cut, Cap and Balance Act. I am fiercely committed to balancing Washington’s checkbook.”
H.J.Res. 98 would resolve that the House of Representatives, and the Senate, disapprove of the President’s exercise of authority to increase the debt limit by $1.2 trillion (the second debt limit increase tranche provided by the Budget Control Act, Public Law 112-25), to a total of $16.394 trillion (it is currently $15.194 trillion).
This increase automatically happens unless this resolution is approved by the Senate and House and signed by the President (or the President’s veto is overridden). Congress has 15 calendar days after this request is made to vote to disapprove of the increase. The request was made on January 12, 2012.
