On Wednesday night, Congressman Andy Biggs (R-AZ) is opposing the House of Representatives’ H.R. 3746, the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023. This legislation raises the nation’s debt ceiling and could lead to an increase in the national debt by $4 trillion by January 1, 2025. The bill preserves President Biden’s student debt bailout program, the 80,000-some Internal Revenue Service (IRS) army, and Green New Deal subsidies. The legislation also expands government welfare programs, omits legislation that would keep unelected bureaucrats in the executive branch better in check, and continues bloated COVID discretionary spending levels. More elements of the bill may be found here.
Congressman Biggs offered four amendments to salvage the proposal, but they were all rejected by House Republican Leadership. Congressman Biggs issued the following statement in response to his vote against the bill:
“The McCarthy-Biden monstrosity accelerates America off the fiscal cliff,” said Congressman Biggs.“For once, Speaker McCarthy had significant leverage over these negotiations and he capitulated on nearly every front, including giving up numerous leverage points for future spending cuts.
“The botched negotiations with the Biden White House mean that the DC Uniparty will continue to spend negligently without committing to any meaningful spending reforms. The McCarthy-Biden plan continues massive deficit spending that will lead to an unsustainable, indefensible growth in our national debt.
“The American people should not be fooled by the Uniparty’s misleading talking points propping up this bill. Broken down, ‘Largest deficit reduction’ is still massive deficit spending. ‘Largest recission ever’ is still massive deficit spending. And ‘significant wins’ is still massive deficit spending.
“I previously asked whether careening off a cliff at 60 miles per hour or 80 miles per hour would make any difference when you hit the ground. Under this plan, Biden and McCarthy are ridiculously claiming sprinting off at 75 miles per hour is a huge win for our fiscal health. The insanity is astounding and I will not go along with it. At some point, we have to stop the car. We have to stop deficit spending.
“Tonight, the DC Uniparty is taking a victory lap as they squeezed their radical wish list out of Speaker McCarthy. Americans got hosed while the DC Uniparty won.”
Bill text for H.R. 3746, the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, may be read here.
Congressman Biggs’ Amendment 1 to the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 may be read here.
- This amendment would strike the entire Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 and replace it with Congressman Biggs’ Biden Time Act, which would rescind $127 billion in COVID and IRS funding to delay reaching the debt ceiling “X date”.
Congressman Biggs’ Amendment 2 to the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 may be read here.
- This amendment would replace the inflated spending caps in the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 with Fiscal Year 2019 levels, which would bring spending below Fiscal Year 2022 revenue.
Congressman Biggs’ Amendment 3 to the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 may be read here.
- This amendment would impose a 14 percent spending cut if Congress fails to pass 12 appropriations bills on time.
Congressman Biggs’ Amendment 4 to the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 may be read here.
- This amendment would eliminate loopholes in the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023’s Statutory Administrative Pay-As-You-Go provisions and ensures the Biden Administration offset the cost of new regulations with corresponding cuts.
