SE Kentucky News

WASHINGTON, DC -- The U.S. House of Representatives passed the bipartisan Fiscal Responsibility Act after Speaker Kevin McCarthy and President Joe Biden reached an agreement over the weekend to avoid the nation's first default, by raising the debt ceiling to meet our obligations through January 1, 2025. The House made history by passing the largest spending cut in U.S. history as part of the deal, reducing the deficit by $1.5 trillion over the next decade. 

"While we cannot afford to default on our debt, neither can we continue the reckless spending that has driven this nation into a record deficit. House Republicans successfully pushed for this deal to reshape our economy and slow our rate of dependency on foreign countries, including Communist China," said Rogers, a senior Member of the Appropriations Committee. "We have pinpointed cost savings and secured historic spending cuts that will get America back on the right track, ending programs that cost taxpayers more and cultivating energy and economic independence from foreign nations."

This plan will recoup nearly $30 billion in unspent COVID-related funds, rescind $1.4 billion from the IRS that will deter the tax agency from doubling its workforce, and require widespread executive branch actions to include cost reduction plans in the future. It also aims to lift low-income individuals out of poverty, by helping able-bodied adults who receive assistance to become gainfully employed and increase their earnings.  

"We are also protecting current and future funding for our seniors, our veterans and active military service members by preserving critical programs," said Rogers, Chairman of the House Appropriatons Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice and Science, and longtime member of the Defense subcommittee. "In addition to strengthening our economy, this bill makes a firm global military statement, by providing the largest defense budget in the world and the highest in U.S. history, proving that our military will continue to be the premiere, elite force that is always ready to protect and defend the American people and our allies."

In effort to advance America's energy independence, the debt limit package also reforms the permitting process to advance domestic energy production and storage, including completion of the last 20 miles of the Mountain Valley Pipeline that runs through neighboring West Virginia and Virginia. 

Congressman Rogers voted for the bill and urges the U.S. Senate to take swift action before the deadline on June 5, 2023.

Click here to read the 99-page Fiscal Responsibility Act.

For more information about Congressman Rogers' work in Washington and at home in Kentucky, visit halrogers.house.gov and follow him on social media. 

Original source can be found here.