Washington, D.C. -— U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge (D-Lillington), a member of the House Committee on Budget, issued the following statement today during testimony of White House Office of Management and Budget, Deputy Director Jeffrey Liebman.
Congress and the Administration are considering proposals to eliminate unnecessary items from the federal budget:
“Our children and grandchildren should not be responsible for the massive debt run up by the previous administration. In my first term in the House, I voted to balance our federal budget for the first time in a generation, and we need to return to that kind of budget discipline to improve the economy and create jobs. We need to build on common sense principles, like Pay-As-You Go policies, to get America back on track. Congress and the White House should use all possible tools, outside of what was discussed today, to serve as checks and balances to cut unnecessary government spending, control the budget and reduce the deficit.”
Etheridge stated that Congress should cut out wasteful government spending like missile defense programs and federally funded ‘roads to nowhere.’
President Obama has proposed that Congress authorize ‘expedited rescission’, a process that allows the President of the United States to sign a Congressionally-passed spending bill into law and at the same time, send back to Congress a list of measures in the budget bill that should be removed. The rescissions take effect only if approved by a majority in each chamber. Today’s hearing was designed to discuss legislation, the Reduce Unnecessary Spending Act of 2010, which would provide that authority.