Budget Control Act is Only the Beginning

The debt agreement that passed both houses of Congress last week may have ended the immediate threat of default, but it is only the beginning of the process to address the growing debt crisis. While the legislation doesn't have everything House Republicans would have liked, there is no question that it adheres to the conservative principles we have maintained throughout the debt ceiling debate. We promised the American people that we would not allow a debt ceiling increase without corresponding spending cuts, that we would not allow tax hikes, and that we would advance a Balanced Budget Amendment. We have achieved all of these objectives.

The terms enacted by the Budget Control Act are light years away from those President Obama requested at the beginning of the negotiations. As recently as April, the president was demanding a "clean" debt ceiling increase of $2.4 trillion, paired with no spending cuts at all. But conservatives insisted that we would not raise the debt limit unless the increase in borrowing authority was exceeded by corresponding spending cuts. This is an unprecedented and historic requirement. In the 86 times the debt limit has been increased since World War II, not once have we seen a comparable policy. The Budget Control Act includes immediate cuts and caps to discretionary spending that will save $917 billion over 10 years, compared to a short-term debt ceiling increase of $900 billion.

However, this is only the first step. Under the new law, President Obama cannot receive the additional debt ceiling increases he seeks without further, matching spending cuts. The plan establishes a bipartisan committee of House and Senate members to identify an additional $1.5 trillion in cuts for a total of more than $2 trillion over 10 years. Of course, this amount is inferior to the $6 trillion in cuts House Republicans already passed earlier this year in our budget plan. The advantage of the Budget Control Act is that it forces the Democrats who control the Senate and White House to accept the spending reductions they rejected when those cuts were included the Republican budget bill. Even if we have to force spending cuts through Congress in $2 trillion installments, conservatives are committed to getting the debt under control despite an uncooperative Senate and White House.

The second vital component of the agreement is that it does not include tax increases. House Republicans know that Washington has a spending problem, not a revenue problem. Furthermore, tax hikes would be terrible for job creation in our struggling economy, so Speaker Boehner walked away from negotiations with the White House when President Obama insisted on $1.2 trillion in tax increases. Conservatives will continue to work to ensure that the budget is balanced through much-needed reforms to spending and entitlements -- not tax increases. The Budget Control Act also requires that Congress vote on the much-needed Balanced Budget Amendment, which would provide another tool to bring fiscal discipline to Washington.

If this agreement were the only action taken to address the debt, it would be unacceptable. But it is not. By design, the Budget Control Act is only the first step toward changing the culture in Washington and getting the debt under control. It is less than ideal as a stand-alone piece of legislation, but as part of a process, it represents a promising start. The committee agenda established by the new law guarantees that Congress will be focused on spending cuts, and that Democrats will finally have to consider conservative budget proposals -- as opposed to tabling them without even a vote. As the process moves forward, I can assure Oklahomans that I will be working to ensure their concerns are addressed and that we bring a permanent end to business as usual in Washington.