Guest column submitted by U.S. Senator Mike Crapo
Federal overspending cedes strength, forgoes the ability to put full resources behind new ideas and essentially resigns our nation to a system of cobbling by, moving from one federal funding deadline to another without a focus on the bigger picture. The strength of our nation is far too important not only to Americans, but also to world stability to accept this outcome. I joined a bipartisan group of my fellow Senators in introducing S. 2765, the Bipartisan Congressional Budget Reform Act, that would fix the federal government’s broken budget process.
The Bipartisan Congressional Budget Reform Act includes the following reforms:
The Senate Budget Committee, on which I serve, advanced this legislation by a bipartisan 15-6 vote. Additional outreach and discussions will continue to build further bipartisan support to pave the way for the full Senate’s consideration of this legislation.
I am not letting up in this effort to improve our nation’s fiscal future, security and stability. I joined in recommending budget reforms as an original member of the President’s Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform and have backed efforts to reign in federal spending and put hard protections in place to curb future overspending. The importance of addressing our unsustainable national debt remains as critical, if not more so, today.
Americans are rightly concerned with partisan politics inhibiting real legislative work that needs to be done. The fact that 20 of my Senate colleagues—Republican, Democratic and Independent—are in agreement on these needed reforms should not be lost in the noise. This bipartisan legislation will reform our broken budget process by outlining a more deliberative, transparent process for managing our nation’s finances. This is exactly what our nation needs, and I commend Budget Committee Chairman Mike Enzi (R-Wyoming) and committee member Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island) for their leadership on this front. I will keep working with my colleagues in Congress and the Administration to push this and other necessary policy changes over the finish line. We cannot afford to do otherwise.
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