Lankford Outlines Budget Priorities

Lankford: House Republican Budget Responsible Path to Balance

Mar 12, 2013

Washington, D.C. — House Republican Policy Committee Chairman and House Budget Committee member James Lankford (R-OK) released the following statement after Chairman Ryan and the House Budget Committee released the Committee’s Budget proposal for fiscal year (FY) 2014, The Path to Prosperity: A responsible, balanced budget.

“I am proud to join Chairman Ryan and my Republican colleagues on the House Budget Committee to present our statutorily required budget resolution for FY14,” said Rep. Lankford. “This will be our third-straight year of putting forward a responsible budget that leads to a sustainable fiscal future. We hope Senate Democrats will do the same by considering our proposal or drafting a proposal of their own. The Senate and White House cannot continue to claim they have a ‘balanced approach’ when they never actually balance.

“The House budget blueprint reduces deficits by $4.6 trillion over the next 10 years by implementing common-sense reforms and smart spending reductions in the federal budget,” continued Lankford. “Additionally, we achieve the savings without using any of the all-too-commonplace CBO scoring tricks or Washington accounting gimmicks. Our proposal again underscores the House’s commitment to American taxpayers by laying out in detail how we would utilize federal dollars in a careful, transparent and efficient manner. Our budget seeks to instill a new culture of responsibility, which slows the growth of government and prioritizes federal spending.

“As our budget proposal rightly states, unless we act now, we will add another $8.2 trillion to our national debt in the following decade, bringing us to almost $25 trillion in national debt. Our current debt is already irresponsible; $25 trillion in future debt is unthinkable.

“Within ten years CBO Director Dr. Doug Elmendorf projects that the interest on our debt, alone, will jump from $223 billion a year to $857 billion a year. The House Republican Budget ensures that we learn from the costly mistakes of over spending in the past and bring our nation’s fiscal house back into order and balance,” concluded Lankford.

To view the Republican FY14 Budget, click here.

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Contact: Kelly Ferguson 202.225.2132