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Over the past six years, responsible budgeting has been almost nonexistent under Republican leadership, resulting in the critical fiscal situation we now face-a $244 billion budget deficit and a nearly $9 trillion national debt. In fact, the amount of foreign-held debt has more than doubled in the past six years, and interest payments on this debt now consume more than 20 percent of all individual income taxes. Clearly, it is well past time for us to rein in spending, bring our budget back to balance, and begin to clean up the mess that has been left behind after years of fiscally irresponsible policies.
Our federal budget should be a statement of our priorities and demonstrate our commitment to defend our nation, grow our economy, and ensure that the federal government is accountable, efficient, and fiscally responsible. The Congressional Budget Resolution adopted last month in the House of Representatives does all of these things, and it's a budget that we can be proud of.
First, this budget does what no other has done in the last six years-it enforces strong budgetary guidelines, such as pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) rules, and this is the biggest difference between this budget and the failed Republican budgets of the past. PAYGO is a principle that the Blue Dog Coalition has advocated for years, and it requires that any increase in mandatory spending or tax cut be paid for, rather than financing our priorities through borrowed money. With the inclusion of long overdue and common sense PAYGO spending rules, the Congressional Budget Resolution will return the federal budget to balance in just five years and put us back on a track to fiscal health.
Second, the budget provides adequate funding for our government's number one priority-the defense of our great country and its people. It supports a robust defense, meeting the President's defense spending requests, and includes increases in veterans' services and homeland security funding levels. This budget provides the necessary resources to protect our country and keeps the promises that we have made to those who have served.
Third, the Congressional Budget Resolution does not raise taxes. It leaves current tax cuts in place and provides for their responsible extension in the future. The budget resolution clearly states support for the extension of middle-income tax cuts, including the child tax credit, marriage penalty relief, the ten percent individual income tax bracket, estate tax reform, the research and development tax credit, and the deduction for state and local sales taxes.
Under PAYGO rules, extensions of tax cuts, like all other policies, must be paid for and cannot be financed on borrowed money that we have to pay back later. We must remember that tax cuts that we don't pay for today mean tax increases for our children tomorrow. By charging tax cuts to our national credit card, we are leaving our children and grandchildren to foot the bill with interest. A better approach is to extend tax cuts in a fiscally responsible way and that is what this budget allows us to do.
Lastly, our budget controls spending levels and actually shrinks the size of our government as a percentage of the gross domestic product (GDP) to 18.9 percent in 2012, exactly one percent lower than it will be this year and lower than it has been in any year since 2001. This means that spending as a percentage of the GDP will be lower in 2012 than it has been under any budget adopted in the last six years.
The Congressional Budget Resolution will bring the budget back to balance within five years, while also investing in America's priorities today and laying the foundation to lower taxes now and in the future. For these reasons, this budget has been endorsed by the fiscally responsible Blue Dog Coalition as well as 65 national organizations, including the Disabled American Veterans, the National Association of Counties, and the American Hospital Association.
After six years of irresponsible fiscal policies that yielded record deficits and mounting debt, correcting the fiscal course of our country cannot be achieved overnight. The Congressional Budget Resolution makes strong headway to restore our fiscal house and to ultimately get our budget on a glide path to balance.
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