By Brandon Moseley
Alabama Political Reporter
Wednesday, July 19, 2017, the House Budget Committee passed the Fiscal Year 2018 Budget. US Representative Gary Palmer (R-Hoover) voted in favor of the budget in Committee while admitting it was far from perfect.
Congressman Palmer said, “The budget passed by the House Budget Committee is far from perfect, but it begins to address the nation’s financial crisis. I voted in favor of advancing the budget for a few reasons. According to GAO, the government made more than $140 billion in improper payments in 2016 alone. With this budget, we will save over $700 billion through common sense, stopping improper payments. The budget provides the Department of Defense robust funding to be used for troop training, equipment, and improved readiness in the wake of unprecedented national security threats. The Department of Homeland Security will also be fully funded allowing us to protect our borders and keep America safe from outside threats. While there are more steps and additions necessary to improve this budget and our country’s fiscal health, we have taken the first step to building a better America and a better economy for future generations.”
Budget Committee Chairman Diane Black (R-Tennessee) said, “Our budget is called ‘Building a Better America’ because we take real, tangible steps to balance the budget, build a stronger military, and support an economy that creates opportunity for all Americans. In past years, our budget resolution was a vision document, but this year is different. With the election of President Trump, our budget goes from being a vision document to being a governing document that outlines how we build a better America for our children and grandchildren.”
Chairman Black said, “The time for talking is over; now is the time for action. When I came to Congress six years ago, I had three priorities: repeal and replace Obamacare, balance the budget, and reform our tax code. This year we’ve already taken the largest step yet to accomplish the first of those priorities, and I was proud to sponsor the American Health Care Act to bring patient-centered reforms to our health care system. This markup begins the process of tackling a balanced budget by 2027 and pro-growth tax reform. Balancing the budget by 2027 is our top priority. Our national debt stands at $20 trillion, with $9 trillion added over just the last eight years. Both parties in Washington have failed to abide by a simple principle that all American families and small businesses do – that we must live within our means. The Congressional Budget Office and outside experts all agree: our current fiscal path is unsustainable.”
Black said that, “While our budget includes reforms to discretionary spending, we also strongly believe that mandatory spending must be addressed in this budget resolution and in budget resolutions to come. Mandatory spending is already more than two-thirds of all federal spending, and that number will only continue to grow. We address mandatory spending in two ways. First, our budget outlines various reforms to mandatory spending programs that we believe reflect a responsible vision for reforming and saving these programs. These reforms would require further legislation and the political will to make the tough choices needed to benefit the American people. Second, our budget includes reconciliation instructions requiring savings and reforms in mandatory spending programs. These savings would go toward deficit reduction and cannot be used to pay for tax reform.”
“The larger the government, the less freedom individuals and businesses have to thrive, grow, hire and innovate. The Obama economy left millions of Americans behind, with over 14 million leaving the labor force in the last eight years. Through reconciliation, our budget specifically paves the way for pro-growth tax reform that will be deficit neutral and independent of reconciliation instructions for mandatory savings and reforms. This pro-growth reform will reduce tax rates, simplify the tax code and unleash the potential of the American economy to help those who have been left behind.”
The Congress has not actually passed a budget and had it signed into law by the President since 2008, instead the government has operated on a serious of continuing resolutions (C.R.) because the Congress had rejected every Obama budget and then failed to reach an agreement with the White House on the actual budget. Instead the White House and congressional leadership would go around the budget process to reach terms of a C.R. (this was true even when Democrats controlled the Congress). The FY2018 budget will be the first passed with the Trump Administration and it remains to be seen whether or not Congress will be better able to deal with the Trump Administration than it was with the Obama Administration.
Congressman Gary Palmer represents Alabama’s Sixth Congressional District.
