Marsha Blackburn: On Voting Against Ending the Government Shutdown and Avoiding Default on the Debt

From Marsha Blackburn:

  

Marsha Blackburn

Last night the House and Senate voted for a bill to avoid the immediate debt ceiling, but did not do anything to prevent the occurrence in the future. We have had hundreds of calls, emails, and letters. I know the vast majority of our district agrees with the vote I cast. I wanted to take a minute and let you know how I voted and why. I’ve said here many times, you might not agree with me, but you will always know where I stand. 

I voted against the deal struck last night. While I believe it is important to make sure our nation does not default on our debt, I could not support the Senate proposal. Last night’s proposal does not keep to one of the Republican goals- a minimum of one dollar in cuts for every dollar of lift in the debt ceiling. This proposal had no spending restraint, no reductions, and no commission to find additional reductions. 

Last night’s bill did not include the required Balanced Budget Amendment that would force government to live within its means. As well, it allowed extraordinary measures that would give more authority to the Treasury and the Obama Administration to spend without Congressional approval. We need to be strengthening, not weakening, the people’s house. 

The Continuing Resolution did not provide us with any of the restraints that were needed to address the exorbitant cost of Obamacare or the growth of the program to a minimum of $2.6 trillion. I went to the House Floor to address this need earlier this week. Watch here. The program has simply become too expensive to afford.

I was against a government shutdown and against a national default.  Now that the government is open and the threat of default pushed to the new year, I am turning my attention to the role of Congress to conduct oversight and investigation. My colleagues and I will hold hearings on all things related to the Obamacare rollout, the glitch-filled website, and the privacy concerns raised. We will use our authority as much as we can to hold this Administration accountable.

We’ve hit $17 trillion in debts and Obamacare is set to add another $2.6 trillion over the next 10 years. We’ve got a lot of fighting left to do. I’m honored to be on the same team with you as we lead the charge.

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