Congress continues to pass unfunded bills, creating an unsustainable future for the American Economy
With the goal of addressing the nation’s unprecedented national debt, Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) and colleagues introduced the Sustainable Budget Act of 2021 today.The Sustainable Budget Act would create an 18-member bipartisan national commission to find and recommend ways to balance the federal budget over 10 years. Senator Lummis introduced the bill with Senators Joni Ernst (R-IA), Ron Johnson (R-WI), Mike Rounds (R-SD), and Kevin Cramer (R-ND).
Of the bill Senator Lummis said:
“Congress has spent nearly $6 trillion in the last year. Much of this spending helped Americans through the pandemic, but I know that my constituents in Wyoming are very concerned that we have no plan to pay it back. We are on an unsustainable trajectory. We’ve become numb to the word ‘trillion.’ At the rate we are going, the United States could soon spend more money on interest on the national debt than it does on defense.
“The commission created in the Sustainable Budget Act is modeled after the Simpson-Bowles commission, which in 2010 released a plan aimed at reducing federal deficits by nearly $4 trillion. At this point, we need a plan far more ambitious than Simpson-Bowles to get us out of the pit. I hope my colleagues will recognize the gravity of this situation and will join me in addressing our national debt.”
Senator Ernst said:
“With a 50-50 split in the Senate and an extremely narrow majority in the House, Democrats have chosen to ignore bipartisanship and instead to unnecessarily ram through trillions in partisan spending on liberal wish list priorities racking up more and more unnecessary debt. It’s past time that we work together—Democrats and Republicans—to rein in this out-of-control spending and put the interests of our children and grandchildren first. This bill will ensure both parties have a seat at the table and that we find common ground to address our ever-increasing national debt.”
Senator Cramer said:
“In response to the pandemic last year, Congress rushed to the aid of the American people, authorizing trillions in new spending to assist those in need. While that spending was necessary at the time, it added to our increasingly serious problem of a rising deficit and near-insurmountable debt, and it’s our job to address it. The Sustainable Budget Act would help us consider bipartisan ways to put the federal government on a path to a sustainable fiscal future.”
Senator Johnson said:
“Out of control spending and skyrocketing debt has been a bipartisan problem that requires a bipartisan solution. With the Biden Administration proposing even more deficit spending with reckless abandon, someone has to study and propose serious solutions. That would be the goal of the commission this legislation would create.”
The commission created by the Sustainable Budget Act would consist of 18 members chosen by the President, the Speaker of the House, the House minority leader, and Senate majority and minority leaders. They would be tasked with creating a bipartisan plan to reduce the deficit and balance the federal budget within 10 years.
The national debt currently sits at $28 trillion. The Congressional Budget Office has raised the alarm, warning that our net interest costs will exceed other mandatory spending by 2030 and surpass spending for Social Security by 2045.
###