House Budget Chairman and Representative Jodey Arrington (R-TX) is calling for Congress to balance the federal budget even while home in Texas, warning the growing national deficit will undermine America’s economic strength, national security and global leadership.
Rep. Arrington has continued to call on lawmakers on both ends of the aisle to address the nation’s soaring debt, with his latest efforts coming during a House Budget Committee hearing in Dallas, Texas, this week. Despite the Continuing Resolution Congress passed in September, the Texas congressman said there is still work to be done.
The national deficit surpassed $40 trillion last month. According to Rep. Arrington, a trillion dollars is added to the national debt every five months. Now, every American household owes a $300,000 share of the national debt, he said.
“To say it another way, we're borrowing annually more than the operating budget, defense and non-defense, of the United States of America,” he said.
With the ongoing affordability crisis, Rep. Arrington said the growing cost of servicing the national debt is putting additional pressure on Americans’ ability to afford everyday necessities and threatening their economic futures.
“If there was ever a moment to level with one another and engage in intellectual honesty with the American people about the existential threat of our national debt, it's now,” Rep. Arrington said.
Rep. Arrington said this fiscal pathway is “completely and utterly unsustainable” and will only get worse in the next few years.
“If our nation's leaders don't intervene, we will not only undermine our nation's economic strength and our national security, but America's global leadership and our children's future,” he said.
Rep. Arrington stressed that he does not mean Congress and the Trump administration should halt their efforts to root out waste, fraud and abuse or control spending across the board. Instead, he argues for a bipartisan approach to address the structural deficit and reform entitlement programs.
“If we ignore mandatory spending and if we avoid entitlement reform, we will fail to restore the fiscal health of our nation and preserve the American promise for future generations,” he said. “There’s been a lot of talking, but not enough doing.”
