Washington, DC - Congressman Bobby Schilling (IL-17) today released the following statement regarding the Path to Prosperity, the House of Representatives' Fiscal Year 2013 budget proposal, which cleared the House today by a vote of 228-191:
"As I said last year when the 2012 Path to Prosperity was released - before our debt hit $15 trillion - folks in Illinois' 17th District did not send me to Washington to continue down the road of failed economic policy, job loss, and reckless spending. Neither side of the aisle and neither chamber of Congress is blameless for the financial crisis we are in, but all are responsible to lead us out.
"As Winston Churchill once said, you can count on Americans to do the right thing once they've exhausted every other option. And the right thing is to face this problem now, or face a bigger one tomorrow. But believe it or not, it has now been more than 1,050 days since the Senate last passed a budget, and the budget proposal recently put forth by the President calls for more spending and more debt. It just plain fails to address our staggering national debt, and it unanimously failed in the House last night.
"My colleagues in the House and I refuse to sit on our hands and ignore the urgent need to modernize our government to prevent our debt from crippling our nation. Our plan is about ending empty promises from a bankrupt government, and guaranteeing our kids and grandkids are left with a stronger America than our parents left us.
"This budget proposal provides certainty for small businesses, reforming the broken tax code to make it simple, fair, and competitive. It clears out special loopholes, and lowers tax rates to promote growth. This budget proposal makes no changes to Medicare for those 55 or older - absolutely no disruptions for those in and around retirement - while saving Medicare for current and future generations. Under the health care reform law, Medicare was raided $500 billion and an unelected, unaccountable board of bureaucrats was given the ability to cut Medicare even further. Instead of this approach, our plan advances a bipartisan health care proposal that takes power away from government bureaucrats, and puts patients and their doctors in charge of their health care choices.
"The House budget proposal presents Americans with a choice - we can sit on the sidelines with the Senate, continue borrowing and spending with the President, or make the bold decisions necessary provide certainty, create jobs, and preserve financial security for our ancestors. While I may not agree with every proposal contained in the budget, I remain ready to make some bold decisions and right our course."
"As I said last year when the 2012 Path to Prosperity was released - before our debt hit $15 trillion - folks in Illinois' 17th District did not send me to Washington to continue down the road of failed economic policy, job loss, and reckless spending. Neither side of the aisle and neither chamber of Congress is blameless for the financial crisis we are in, but all are responsible to lead us out.
"As Winston Churchill once said, you can count on Americans to do the right thing once they've exhausted every other option. And the right thing is to face this problem now, or face a bigger one tomorrow. But believe it or not, it has now been more than 1,050 days since the Senate last passed a budget, and the budget proposal recently put forth by the President calls for more spending and more debt. It just plain fails to address our staggering national debt, and it unanimously failed in the House last night.
"My colleagues in the House and I refuse to sit on our hands and ignore the urgent need to modernize our government to prevent our debt from crippling our nation. Our plan is about ending empty promises from a bankrupt government, and guaranteeing our kids and grandkids are left with a stronger America than our parents left us.
"This budget proposal provides certainty for small businesses, reforming the broken tax code to make it simple, fair, and competitive. It clears out special loopholes, and lowers tax rates to promote growth. This budget proposal makes no changes to Medicare for those 55 or older - absolutely no disruptions for those in and around retirement - while saving Medicare for current and future generations. Under the health care reform law, Medicare was raided $500 billion and an unelected, unaccountable board of bureaucrats was given the ability to cut Medicare even further. Instead of this approach, our plan advances a bipartisan health care proposal that takes power away from government bureaucrats, and puts patients and their doctors in charge of their health care choices.
"The House budget proposal presents Americans with a choice - we can sit on the sidelines with the Senate, continue borrowing and spending with the President, or make the bold decisions necessary provide certainty, create jobs, and preserve financial security for our ancestors. While I may not agree with every proposal contained in the budget, I remain ready to make some bold decisions and right our course."
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