This week, the Senate made good on a promise made this past fall – we passed the Republican budget 52-46 after a thorough debate and amendment process. Over the last few years, Washington has continued to rack up debt, without ever checking to see whether we can pay government’s bill. Passage of a budget that balances in ten years is a critical step to getting our country in the right direction without raising taxes on American families. After hours of open debate on the issue, the Senate advanced a serious proposal that puts our country on the path to fiscal responsibility. North Carolinians understand the fundamental reality that you can’t spend more than you take in. It’s time that Washington recognizes this reality as well. We will now work with our House colleagues on a budget to send to the President’s desk.
During the amendment process, I offered Amendment 62 to simplify repaying student loans, which passed with overwhelming support on a voice vote. The amendment, based on the Repay Act, helps students and their families find the right repayment program, ultimately fixing the maze that Washington has built around the student loan repay programs.
North Carolinians are tired of seeing their hard-earned tax dollars go to waste in a student loan program that serves neither their interests nor those of the college students it is intended to help. You can hear more about the Amendment 62 by watching by floor speech below.
Five years ago Monday, Obamacare was enacted. I warned then that this law would be a disaster for our health care system, doctors, and patients. This law has put our country on an unsustainable path of increased costs, government mandates, and broken promises. North Carolinians have seen their health insurance premiums increase, their existing coverage cancelled, and lost access to their doctors. Our nation’s health care system was broken before Obamacare, but because of it, things are worse today than before. Obamacare is a failure and I will continue to advocate to repeal and replace it because I believe there are better alternatives that will fulfill the promise to lower health care costs and empower patients in their health care decisions—what Obamacare fundamentally fails to do.
I joined Bill Hemmer on America’s Newsroom this past Monday to discuss the situation in Yemen and Iran – you can watch the clip below.
“We have consistently been behind the curve as it relates to Iran nuclear [weapons]. I would love to say we know everything about Iran, but there’s not as much inside information that we’re able to gather. We rely on our partners around the world. And Bill, this is why it’s so important, it’s why the Congress speaks out. If we don’t have those partners, we begin to have hearing loss, sight loss. As we talk about cutting a bad deal in Iran. That puts our partners in jeopardy from our standpoint of their relationship with us. WE could be fueling an expansion of nuclear proliferation in the Middle East, not a contraction.”
Speaking of the situation in Yemen, I’ll be joining CBS’s Face The Nation on Sunday at 10:30am to discuss on-going developments. Please tune in!
Sincerely,
Richard Burr