{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://noem.house.gov/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=b9a35d30-714a-4a5d-aee6-93e23690ba9b", "Noem Weekly Column: A Better Way to Restore Our Fiscal Future", "2013-10-18", "2013", "2013-10", "Republican", "House", "SD", "Kristi Noem", "N000184", "noem.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "On October 16, Congress approved \u2013 and President Obama signed into law \u2013 legislation to end the partial government shutdown and increase our nation\u2019s borrowing limit, known as the \u201cdebt ceiling.\u201d I voted against this bill and would like to take this opportunity to explain why.\r\nMake no mistake, getting the government funded again and stopping any talk of potential default on our debt was a good thing.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t favor shutting down the government and am glad it is reopened.\u00a0 For me, this vote was not simply about whether to reopen the government; rather, it was about what kind of government we should have.\u00a0\u00a0 Do we want a government that lives within its means?\u00a0 Or do we want a government that spends much more than it takes in, leaving a crushing amount of debt for future generations?\u00a0 I voted \u201cno\u201d because I believe our spending problems are unsustainable and because the bill that was ultimately signed into law missed a real opportunity to fix the problems that have led us to a $17 trillion national debt.\r\nOne of the most pressing challenges facing our nation is our growing debt. Concern over our fiscal future is one of the reasons I oppose President Obama\u2019s trillion-dollar health care law, commonly referred to as Obamacare. In fact, concerns about Obamacare \u2013 including the unfair way it has been implemented \u2013 helped lead to the standoff that partially shut down the government on October 1.\u00a0\r\nTo be clear, the government shutdown was not the outcome I hoped for, though I do stand by my desire to see South Dakotans get the same treatment under Obamacare that the president has offered to corporations and large businesses. During the period the government was partially shut down, I remained hopeful that both parties would come together and negotiate on the issue of providing fairness under Obamacare.\u00a0 In the absence of those negotiations, the House began passing numerous bills to reopen basic, noncontroversial parts of the federal government. Those bills were unfortunately never considered in the Senate.\r\nOn October 10, I was part of a small group of Republicans that went to the White House in an effort to negotiate a way forward with President Obama. By that time, it was clear that the issue of government funding was going to be merged with the issue of raising the debt ceiling. At that meeting, the president was offered a temporary increase in the debt ceiling along with a way to reopen the government as long as both sides entered real, meaningful negotiations on reforming some of the programs that are the real drivers of our fiscal problems.\u00a0 The president did not accept our offer and began working with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on a deal to reopen the government and increase the debt ceiling, which formed the foundation for the bill that I ultimately could not support.\r\nThe process that I went through prior to casting my vote was neither simple nor easy. I supported reopening the government and wanted to see that happen as quickly as possible.\u00a0 While there were some positive aspects to the bill, it also included things that troubled me, including a $2.1 billion funding boost for an Ohio River dam and a one-time \u201cdeath gratuity\u201d payment of $174,000 to the widow of a millionaire lawmaker that passed away earlier this year. However, at the end of the day it all came back to one thing for me: our $17 trillion debt. While reopening the government was important to me, so too was pushing for a government that stops spending more money than it takes in.\r\nCongress and recent presidents from both political parties, including President Obama, have a long history of tying reforms to an increase in the debt ceiling. Unfortunately, we missed an opportunity to do so with this bill.\u00a0 With our national debt at $17 trillion and growing, I could not support the bill because it increased our debt ceiling without doing anything to address our country\u2019s structural spending problem.\u00a0\r\nI believe there is a better path. Members of Congress from both parties must work with President Obama on common sense reforms that we can all agree on.\u00a0 These reforms could include things like fixing our broken tax code by eliminating loopholes and making incremental reforms to entitlement programs that are the real drivers of our spending so they can better serve current and future beneficiaries.\u00a0\r\nDespite this recent episode, I still believe divided government can work to better serve the American people and I am committed to trying to make that happen.", 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": ["http://noem.house.gov/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=b9a35d30-714a-4a5d-aee6-93e23690ba9b"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.6249301843345165, "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"}