Hensarling Floor Statement on the Budget and Accounting Transparency Act of 2012
WASHINGTON – House Republican Conference Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) delivered the following remarks on the House floor today in support of H.R. 3581, the Budget Accounting and Transparency Act of 2012.
“I thank the gentleman for yielding; I appreciate his leadership, and certainly his leadership as one of the foremost budget hawks in the entire United States Congress.
“Madam Chair, we just learned that the president will not be a day late and a dollar short with his budget. Instead, he will be a week late and a trillion dollars short on his budget. We also learned from the Congressional Budget Office this will not be his first year, his second year, his third year but his fourth year, to be a trillion dollars short on his budget. Now Madam Chair, we received a little good news last month. 200,000 of our fellow citizens were able to find work. Unfortunately, almost 13 million remain unemployed. More people on food stamps than ever before. Half of all Americans are either low-income or in poverty under the policies of this president. It is clear that this president’s policies have failed; they have made our economy worse. And because he cannot run on his record, he has regrettably turned to the politics of division and envy.
“To help the economy, to help create more jobs, Madam Chair, number one we have got to quit spending money we don’t have. Second of all, the American people, job creators, have to be able to know that they have a fact-based budget. One that is honest as the American people themselves. We need fair value accounting. You know if you’re a small business in the Fifth District of Texas and you don’t have fair value accounting, you probably go broke. Well, the federal government doesn’t use fair value accounting and guess what? The federal government is broke. That is why we must pass the gentleman from New Jersey’s bill, the Budget Accounting Transparency Act.
“No more Fannie and Freddies. No more Solyndras. Let’s insure that we account for these costs. It’s a part of the Republican Plan for America’s Job Creators- to give our job creators the confidence they need to hire and grow this economy.”
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For additional information, contact:
House Republican Conference Press Office (conferencepress@mail.house.gov)
