FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
September 26, 2019
 Contact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343

 
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), chairman of the Federal Spending Oversight and Emergency Management (FSO) Subcommittee for the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC), again forced the U.S. Senate to confront its fiscal recklessness by securing a vote on his amendment to the Continuing Resolution to cut the bill’s discretionary spending levels by 2 percent, which would still make available over $1.2 trillion in base discretionary spending.
 
In a speech on the Senate floor shortly before the vote, Dr. Paul described how most groups he talks to across the political spectrum understand the need to cut federal spending.
 
“Even the groups receiving it are willing to cut 1 or 2 percent. But you know who’s not? The Senate. The Congress. They won’t cut anything,” Dr. Paul stated.
 
He went on to highlight how runaway government spending is to blame for massive deficits, as federal revenue is actually up, later also adding, “My amendment won’t pass because people are afraid that the public won’t like them if they don’t give them more money. I’m afraid we’ll destroy the country if we keep running more deficits.”
 
You can find Dr. Paul’s speech HERE.
 
Unfortunately, a majority of senators indeed voted to support the status quo, illustrating the continued bipartisan compromise to spend more of Americans’ money Dr. Paul condemned in his remarks.
 
As part of his efforts to restore fiscal responsibility in Washington, Dr. Paul introduced his Pennies Plan budget in April, which simply states that for every on-budget dollar the federal government spent in Fiscal Year 2019, it spend two pennies fewer a year (a cut of two percent per year) for the next five years. This plan would balance the federal government’s budget – without touching Social Security – while providing legislators with full flexibility to make the best decisions on where to save taxpayer funds.

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