{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.enzi.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/speeches?ContentRecord_id=a5699059-10dd-4d2e-a705-a487a9a0d55d", "Meeting of the Committee of Conference on the Fiscal Year 2014 Concurrent Resolution on the Budget (S. Con. Res. 8)", "2013-10-30", "2013", "2013-10", "Republican", "House", "WY", "Michael Enzi", "E000285", "www.enzi.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Thank you Mr. Chairman.\u00a0 Americans are tired of the habitual promises Congress makes to fix our annual deficits and growing national debt.\u00a0 This conference committee is yet another one of those promises.\u00a0 It was part of a promise that if members supported more borrowing then we would talk about how to control spending.\u00a0 Now what are we hearing about this committee from the Senate majority and its leadership?\u00a0 The same thing.\u00a0 \u2018Let\u2019s raise spending limits \u2013 let us spend more \u2013 and then we\u2019ll talk about it later.\u2019\u00a0 I\u2019ll tell you from the start, that was not good enough for me before and it\u2019s not good enough for me now.\u00a0 If we work together we can control spending without a \u201cmake it hurt\u201d mentality, but if we don\u2019t, we\u2019re all in for real hurt.\r\nIt\u2019s time to move forward.\u00a0 We\u2019re here now, today, so let\u2019s do something.\u00a0 Our goal during this conference should be to find common ground on solutions that address our country\u2019s annual deficits and $17 trillion-and-growing debt.\r\nWe shouldn\u2019t be in the situation we are in, and the government should not have shut down.\u00a0 In the Senate, the majority could have brought up the appropriations bills on the Senate floor earlier this year \u2013 one per week, and we would have had the time to fully debate the measures, offer amendments, and improve the bills.\u00a0 No one senator or one party has a monopoly on good ideas.\u00a0 Instead of identifying all of those good ideas, we got another deal that raised the debt limit and did nothing to address the underlying spending problem.\u00a0 We\u2019ve got to start legislating and stop deal-making.\u00a0 I hope we can at least make a small move in that direction with this conference committee.\r\nI\u2019ve got several ideas for how to keep us out of the situation we were just in and make reasonable, but real, progress on our deficits and debt.\u00a0 I have a penny plan, an idea on biennial budgeting, some relevant amendments for spending bills, end the shutdown bill, and forced prioritization and tax reform. We should consider my penny plan, which cuts overall spending by 1 percent for two years and balances the budget so that we don\u2019t have to raise the debt ceiling.\u00a0 We\u2019ve got to stop spending more than we take in and find a way to start paying down the $17 trillion \u2013 and growing \u2013 debt.\u00a0 The penny plan doesn\u2019t mandate any specific cuts.\u00a0 Congress would have the authority to make targeted cuts and focus on the worst first, but would be required to meet the 1 percent overall cut. Everything would be on the table.\u00a0 And I would argue that we should focus on identifying and eliminating all of the wasteful spending that occurs in Washington before we look to other important programs and services.\u00a0 Let\u2019s not make the cuts hurt \u2013 let\u2019s be smart about the spending cuts and prioritize how we spend taxpayers\u2019 dollars.\r\nMy biennial appropriations bill would allow for each of the appropriation bills to be taken up over a 2-year period, with the more controversial bills taken up in a non-election year and the less controversial bills taken up in an election year.\u00a0 The defense appropriations bill would be taken up each year.\u00a0 This would allow us to get into the spending details more and eliminate duplication and waste.\u00a0 Let\u2019s stop making the spending cuts hurt, like the Administration wants to do with sequestration.\u00a0 Let\u2019s get rid of what we really don\u2019t need and start living within our means.\r\nFinally, I want to thank my colleague, Senator Portman, for his leadership on the End Government Shutdowns Act.\u00a0 I am a cosponsor of this legislation that keeps the government open in the event of a lapse of funding but which reduces funding until the appropriations bills are enacted.\u00a0 It\u2019s a smart piece of legislation that brings folks to the table to work out the differences on the appropriations bills.\r\nWe have a spending problem, not a revenue problem.\u00a0 We do not need to raise taxes in order for Washington to spend more.\u00a0 We cannot spend our way to prosperity.\u00a0 Identifying a process forward for tax reform \u2013 that\u2019s where part of our efforts should be focused.\u00a0\u00a0 I\u2019m a member of the Finance Committee \u2013 I\u2019m ready to roll up my sleeves and get to work on tax reform.\u00a0 Let\u2019s open the doors for Senator Baucus and Congressman Camp to move forward expeditiously on tax reform \u2013 they are ready to do so.\u00a0 Let\u2019s help make that happen.\u00a0 If done correctly, tax reform will help to generate additional revenue through economic growth to reduce the deficits and pay down the debt.\u00a0 I\u2019m ready to make that happen.\r\nI understand that some think all that might be accomplished by this conference committee is to replace this year\u2019s automatic spending cuts \u2013 the sequester.\u00a0 What we need to do is prioritize those cuts \u2013 find the spending cuts that will do the least harm and start there.\u00a0 It worked in Wyoming, and it can work here.\u00a0 Raising taxes to offset more spending is not the path forward.\u00a0 Reigning in out-of-control spending is.\r\nOur nation\u2019s over-spending has to stop.\u00a0 The latest Congressional Budget Office estimates show that deficits and the nation\u2019s debt are only going to get worse if we don\u2019t take action now.\u00a0 If we don\u2019t make cuts now, all the scenarios down the road are worse than what we\u2019re facing today.\u00a0 A little pain now is better than a lot of pain in the future.\u00a0\r\nI\u2019m glad to have the opportunity to serve on this conference committee, and I look forward to a robust debate on our nation\u2019s fiscal path forward.\r\nThank you, Mr. Chairman.\u00a0 I yield the balance of my time.", 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://www.enzi.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/speeches?ContentRecord_id=a5699059-10dd-4d2e-a705-a487a9a0d55d"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7952512241899967, "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"}