Congressional Update

Congressional Update
Congressman Gary G. Miller, representing California’s 42nd District

July 25-Aug. 2, 2011

This Week in Congress:

 Energy Security – On Tuesday, July 26, the House passed H.R. 1938, the North American-Made Energy Security Act, by a vote of 279-147. The bill would expedite a final decision by the President on the Keystone XL pipeline, a project that would allow millions of barrels of Canadian oil supplies to flow into U.S. markets. Specifically, the legislation would require the President to issue a final Presidential permit decision by November 1, 2011. Completion of the pipeline extension would increase America’s access to safe and secure energy supplies. The project would more than double the current pipeline’s capacity, bringing more than 1.2 million barrels of oil per day into U.S. markets and creating more than 100,000 U.S. jobs.

 Senator Reid’s Debt Ceiling Proposal – On Saturday, July 30, the House disapproved, by a vote of 173-246, the plan proposed by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to allow the President to increase the debt limit by $2.4 trillion in two $1.2 trillion tranches and without intervening legislation required from Congress. According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the legislation would reduce the deficit by $2.19 trillion over 10 years, including $1 trillion in phantom savings for war spending which has never been appropriated or requested and is not expected to be spent. Even accounting for these theoretical war savings, the Reid proposal would still increase the debt limit by $206 billion more than the savings the bill produces. When the phantom war savings are excluded, CBO notes that the bill would only reduce spending by $927 billion over 10 years compared to a debt limit increase of $2.4 trillion. The bill would also not require Congress to consider a Balanced Budget Amendment.

 Budget Control Act– On Monday, August 1, the House approved the Budget Control Act of 2011, by a vote of 269-161. The bill would create and enforce discretionary spending caps to cut and restrain spending over the next decade. The bill would also provide a two-step mechanism for increasing the debt limit - subject to congressional disapproval - and for the first time cuts spending more than it increases the nation’s borrowing authority. The measure establishes a Joint Committee to produce deficit reduction legislation and provides for automatic across-the-board cuts of mandatory and discretionary spending to achieve spending cuts equal to a debt limit increase, if the deficit committee’s legislation is not enacted or falls short of the amount of the debt limit increase. According to the CBO, the bill would reduce deficits by at least $2.117 trillion over ten years, with the possibility of even greater reductions based n the enactment of legislation produced by the deficit committee. According to the CBO, provisions in the bill not related to the Joint Committee’s recommendations or further sequestration accompanying the second debt limit increase would reduce total spending by $917 billion between FY 2012 and FY 2021, lower than the $900 billion increase in the statutory debt limit that the bill authorizes. The bill immediately cuts a total of $21 billion in spending in FY 2012. The Budget Control Act also requires Congress to consider a balanced budget amendment in both the House and the Senate by December 31, 2011. The bill allows for an additional increase of the debt limit of up to $1.5 trillion – subject to congressional disapproval – if the Joint Committee’s legislative proposal to cut $1.5 trillion is enacted or if a Balanced Budget Amendment were sent to the states and $1.2 trillion in cuts identified by the Committee were enacted. While the plan is far from perfect, Congressman Miller believes it begins to take our country in the right direction towards getting our fiscal house in order.

Items of Note:

 Constituent Work Period — The House of Representatives has adjourned for August Recess and will be back in session in Washington on Wednesday, September 7.

 Congressman Miller’s August Column — Rep. Gary Miller has published his column for the month of August, entitled, “Protecting Employees’ Right to Work.” To read the column, go to http://garymiller.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=254682

National Debt

  • Hitting the debt limit is just a symptom of the real problem – we have too much debt.
  • Americans have made it clear that they are fed up with the borrowing and spending spree that Washington has undertaken, threatening our nation’s future.
  • Over the last two years, Washington Democrats have recklessly pursued an ideological agenda that has accumulated more than $3.5 trillion in new debt.
  • While the legislation enacted into law this week is far from perfect, it will avoid a job-killing national default while cutting spending by a larger amount than the debt limit hike.
  • Throughout the debt ceiling debate, President Obama and Congressional Democrats demanded that any deal contain massive tax hikes that would hinder economic growth and job creation to pay for their out-of-control spending spree.
  • This proposal does not contain any tax increases. House Republicans will continue to oppose raising taxes going forward.
  • President Obama has insisted on a “balanced approach” to resolving the debt limit impasse – including tax hikes. Americans don’t need a “balanced approach” – they need a balanced budget.
  • The deal enacted into law guarantees that both the House and Senate will vote on a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution before the end of the year – the first time in 15 years that Congress is guaranteed to do so.
  • House Republicans have led the fight for controlling spending and saving future generations from national bankruptcy – voting to shrink a federal government that has done nothing but expand for the past 40 years.
  • This year marks the first time in the history of modern budgeting that discretionary federal spending will have been cut for two straight years.
  • While the legislation is not the ultimate solution to Washington’s spending and borrowing addiction, it is an important step forward in restoring fiscal sanity and providing greater certainty to private sector job creators.
  • Much more work remains to be done. Congress must ensure that these spending cuts and caps are strictly enforced and take measures to prevent future government overspending.
  • To strengthen our economy, House Republicans will continue to advance a pro-growth agenda focused on limiting the size and role of the federal government, empowering small business owners and reducing regulatory burdens, and removing all obstacles to establishing an economic environment where the private sector and entrepreneurship may thrive.