Senators Bob Corker and Lamar Alexander said the budget bill passed Tuesday was a first step, but much more work remains on balancing the federal budget.
Senator Corker said, “Left to my own accord this budget would look far different, but at the end of the day I believe it’s important for Congress to complete this basic tenet of governing and set the stage for a responsible appropriations process.
“Restoring our nation’s fiscal health will demand a much more serious effort, and I hope next year’s budget process will make much greater progress toward truly addressing the fiscal challenges our country faces.”
Senator Alexander said, “Today, I voted for the budget because it is a long-overdue starting point to help bring the federal government’s $18 trillion debt under control. This budget balances in nine years without raising taxes and proposes to take some initial steps to slow the growth of out-of-control mandatory entitlement spending.
“Passing a budget is a good first step, but we still have more work to do. The federal debt is not the result of overspending on the military, highways or cancer research. We must continue to fund these priorities and pass a plan like the Fiscal Sustainability Act Sen. Corker and I introduced last Congress to slow the growth of entitlement spending by nearly $1 trillion over 10 years.”
Today’s vote was on a conference report that is the result of an agreement between the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate on a budget resolution. Congress can now move forward with the so-called “reconciliation” process, which requires committees to produce legislation to reduce federal spending.
Senator Alexander said, "Mandatory spending – which includes out-of-control entitlement spending that is driving the growth in the federal debt – made up about 60 percent of overall federal spending in 2014. Discretionary spending – the part of the budget that is already subject to spending caps under the Budget Control Act – made up about 34 percent of federal spending in 2014 and funds national defense, national labs, national parks and other federal priorities."