Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell made the following statement on the Senate floor Friday regarding a vote on a Democrat proposal to table the Cut, Cap and Balance bill. The Cut, Cap and Balance bill would cut government spending now, cap it in the future and approve a constitutional amendment to balance the federal budget:

“Five months ago, President Obama unveiled the only concrete statement he’s made to date on our nation’s debt crisis: A 10-year budget plan so preposterous, so unequal to the moment, that it was rejected in the Senate by a vote of 97-0.

“The President’s response to this crisis was to pretend it didn’t exist.

“Two months later, the President doubled down on his vision for a future of debt by demanding that Congress raise the debt limit without any cuts to spending or any plan to rein it in.

“It was a total abdication of leadership, and it wasn’t sustainable.

“So over the past several weeks the President has been doing his best impersonation of a fiscal moderate. He’s talked about balance and left it to others to fill in the blanks.

“And here’s what Democrats in Congress have proposed as a solution: More spending and higher taxes — as the solution to a debt crisis.

“Just yesterday, with the clock ticking, we heard reports of a `volcanic’ eruption among Democrats at the suggestion that we should solve this crisis by focusing on reducing Washington spending.

“The solution to this crisis is not complicated: If you’re spending more money than you’re taking in, you need to spend less money.

“This isn’t rocket science.

“We could solve this problem this morning if Democrats would let us vote on the Cut, Cap, and Balance bill — and join us in backing this legislation that Republicans support.

“But the first step in solving a problem is to admit you have one, and too many Democrats refuse to admit that Washington has a spending problem.

“That’s why Republicans have insisted that we focus on spending in this debate.

“The reason we’ve got a $14 trillion debt is because no matter how much money Washington has, it always spends more — and the only way to cure the problem is to stop enabling it.

“Americans get it.

“And I want to thank every American who’s spoken out in favor of the Cut, Cap, and Balance Plan.

“Today the American people will now know where we stand.

“A vote to table this bill is a vote to ignore this crisis even longer.

“A vote to get on this bill is a vote for getting our house in order

“So I would urge my Democrat colleagues one more time to re-consider their position.

“Join us in support of a future we can afford.”