{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://mcadams.house.gov/media/press-releases/mcadams-calls-house-budget-committee-focus-reducing-dangerous-level-debt", "McAdams calls on House Budget Committee to focus on reducing dangerous level of debt", "2019-03-06", "2019", "2019-03", "Democrat", "House", "UT", "Ben McAdams", "M001209", "mcadams.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Washington DCCongressman Ben McAdams testified before the House Budget Committee Wednesday and warned that with interest on America's $22 trillion debt the fastest growing part of the federal budget, both parties must work to lower deficits.\nMcAdams is a member of the House Blue Dog Coalition, a group of 27 fiscally-responsible Democrats dedicated to the financial stability and national security of the country.\nBefore being elected to Congress, I was a mayor responsible for balancing the budget every year. I was then, as I am now, accountable to taxpayers for every dollar spent and nothing is more important than being a good steward of hard-earned tax dollars, said McAdams. Congress has a bipartisan problem when it comes to running up deficits and debt. It is past time to put our fiscal house in order and commit to making tough choices to reverse this ocean of red ink.\nPresently every man, woman and child in America owes $67,000 as a share of the national debt. He said by the year 2025, interest payments will exceed the cost of America's defense budget.\nGrowing interest payments will crowd out other investment that would move our country forward, such as education, or housing or infrastructure. Not only is that fiscally irresponsible, it is morally reprehensible to saddle generations yet unborn with those bills. And someday, those bills will come due, McAdams testified.\nMcAdams said as a co-chair of the Blue Dog Task Force on Fiscal Responsibility and Government Reform, he'll work to pursue smart, strategic policies to rein in the federal government's persistent annual deficits. The Treasury Department this week reported that the federal budget deficit for the first four months of fiscal year 2019grew by 77 percent, to $310 billion. The government is projected to spend $383 billion on interest payments for its debt this year. McAdams said it's clear the country is on a dangerous and unsustainable course and it is past time for both parties to change direction.\nMcAdams has sponsored the No Budget, No Pay legislation that says if Congress fails to do its job passing a budget and funding the government by October 1st, members won't get paid. He said he also plans to introduce a balanced budget amendment to put structure in place to enforce fiscal discipline.\nWatch McAdams' testimony here\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://mcadams.house.gov/media/press-releases/mcadams-calls-house-budget-committee-focus-reducing-dangerous-level-debt"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.2083718795329332, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}