Budget and Fiscal Responsibility

For far too long, Washington has been recklessly spending Americans' hard-earned taxpayer dollars. American individuals and families who are struggling every day have to live within their means. The federal government should as well.

As a father, I worry about Washington’s unsustainable spending and the undue burden this will put on our children and grandchildren. The debt crisis is not make-believe. At more than $17 trillion, our national debt now exceeds the size of the U.S. economy and puts each person on the hook for $54,000 as a result of Washington’s insatiable appetite to spend taxpayer dollars. Not to mention Illinois residents face an additional $21,000 in state debt as the result of poor fiscal choices. At this level, our national debt is a national security threat.

(Click picture for video of me challenging my colleagues to get serious about the debt crisis at the House Financial Services Committee hearing entitled, “Why Debt Matters”)

I will continue to cut wasteful government spending and work across the aisle to eliminate fraud and abuse. We cannot continue to increase the debt ceiling every year without meaningful reforms to cut our out-of-control spending. Washington needs to live within its means, just as working American families do every day.

Key actions taken to cut wasteful spending:

Cosponsored H.R. 483, Farmers Against Crippling Taxes Act - 113th Congress

• Permanently repeals the federal estate tax, better known as the death tax, to put an end to this burden on family farms, ranches and businesses upon the death of an owner.

Cosponsored and voted for passage of H.R. 444, Require a PLAN Act (passed 253-167) - 113th Congress

• Requires the White House to either produce a balanced budget or provide a supplemental budget plan that identifies in what fiscal year their plan would achieve balance.

Cosponsored H. J. Res 1, 2, 24, Proposing a balanced budget amendment- 113th Congress

• Series of resolutions targeted at balancing the federal budget and reducing the national debt:
  • Amends the Constitution to prohibit Congress from spending more money than it takes in, unless overridden by a three-fifths majority in each chamber.
  • Requires a three-fifths majority in each chamber to increase the public debt limit.
  • Directs the President to submit a balanced budget to Congress annually.
  • Prohibits any bill to increase revenue from becoming law unless approved by two-thirds of each chamber.

Voted for passage of H.R. 3630, Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act (signed into law) - 112th Congress

• Extends a number of temporary tax relief, unemployment insurance and transitional medical service provisions scheduled to expire at the end of the year:
  • Extends the 2 percent reduction in employment tax rates for employees and self-employed individuals (amends Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 ).
  • Extends requirement that federal payments to states cover 100 percent of Emergency Unemployment Compensation (amends Assistance for Unemployed Workers and Struggling Families Act).
  • Extends unemployment benefits for employees with 10 or more years of service as well as for those with less than 10 (amends Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act).
  • Extends the temporary increase in payment for ground ambulance services, the increase in payment for certain urban air ambulance services and the increase in the assistance for rural providers furnishing ambulance services in low population density areas.
  • Extends the Transitional Medical Assistance (TMA) Program.
• Includes fully paid-for extensions of the payroll tax holiday and a reformed unemployment insurance program.
• Calls for a two-year freeze on cuts to doctors providing care to our nation’s seniors and disabled enrolled in Medicare.
• Extends and expands provisions to encourage employers to invest and hire.