Speeches
Pelosi: Today’s Budget Vote Will Put America’s Fiscal House in Order
03/29/2007
“Madam
Speaker, today this new Congress will put
“I
commend Mr. Spratt for his exceptional leadership and for bringing to the floor
a budget for the future, a budget that will initiate an era of accountability
in government spending and in government accountability on our priorities. It is a budget that will come to balance in
spending, and also in terms of its priorities.
“Putting
our house in order is necessary because for the last six years, the Bush
Administration and Republicans in Congress have increased spending while giving
tax cuts to the wealthiest few in our country, leaving our country awash in red
ink, mortgaging the futures of our children.
It’s just not right.
“When
President Bush took office in 2001, he inherited a budget surplus because of
the paygo principles adopted by the Clinton Administration with the Democrats
in the Congress. Because of those
principles, the last four
“We were
on our way to ridding ourselves of the national debt. But because of the irresponsible budgeting of
the Republicans in Congress and in the White House, we are now on a trajectory
of $3 trillion in deficit. That is a
swing of approximately $9 trillion.
“This is
historic and it is wrong. It is wrong
for our children; it mortgages their future.
It is wrong for our economy. This
fiscal unaccountability will be corrected today with the passage of this
budget.
“The
budget put forth by the Chairman is one that honors our responsibilities to the
American people. A budget should be a
statement of our national values. Our
federal budget should reflect what is important to us as a nation. That’s how we should allocate our
resources. We should do it in an ethical
way and a fiscally sound way, and the most honest and open way. And we must do it, always with an eye to the
future.
“And
that’s what this budget does. It honors
our responsibilities, first and foremost, to protect the American people. And that is why it has the endorsement of
almost every veterans group. They are
actively supporting this legislation and advocating a yes vote.
“It
honors our commitment to grow our economy to create good paying jobs for the
future by investing in innovation.
“That’s
why it has the support of the Council on Competitiveness and almost any entity
that is geared to the future, to innovation, and to keeping
“It
honors our commitment to our children, how they are cared for, with their
health care, with their education, and the economic strength of their
families. That’s why it has the support
of so many religious organizations who see a budget as a moral document.
“And it
honors our commitment to preserve our planet for the future. That’s why it has the support, right to left,
Democrat and Republican, nonpartisan, nonprofit, any entity that you can name
involved in preserving our planet, in energy independence, and respecting God’s
creation. Honoring our commitment to
nature and to the future, preserving the planet, this budget does that.
“The
support outside this Congress indicates that the American people are so far
ahead of the Congress of United States when they think about our values and how
our budget should reflect those values about accountability and how responsible
we should be for the taxpayers’ dollar and about the future.
“I urge
my colleagues to support this House Democratic budget, to vote aye, a vote for
the future. It’s a vote for a new era of
accountability. It is a vote for a moral
statement, a statement of our national values.
“Thank
you, Mr. Spratt, for your leadership.”