Dear Friend,

Since I was elected, I’ve focused on addressing the out-of-control spending our government cannot seem to shake. Every day the American people’s financial obligation as a share of the national debt continues to grow larger and larger, and the burden will ultimately fall on the shoulders of our children and grandchildren. 

Today, every American is on the hook for roughly $85,500 of the national debt. That number has increased significantly as the federal government provided trillions in COVID relief last year. Although I have consistently opposed large budget bills riddled with excessive spending in Congress, I supported COVID relief efforts in 2020 as families and businesses confronted lockdowns and closures that threatened their livelihoods and our economy. Our debt and spending rate prior to COVID was already unsustainable, and the effects of the pandemic combined with these bills presented a true Hobson’s Choice when voting to spend more.

In all, Congress adopted five bipartisan COVID relief bills totaling trillions in new spending to bring our economy through the COVID crisis. Those efforts kept our economy from sinking, but as the first vaccines were approved in December and distribution ramped up, President Biden and Speaker Pelosi opted to flood the economy with $1.9 trillion in new, partisan spending instead of letting our businesses regain their footing and help the market correct itself. 

As prices on everyday goods continue to rise and the Biden Administration promises to spend trillions more in the coming months, we have no choice but to redouble our efforts to rein in our spending and get control of our debt.

At the end of the month, our country will hit what’s known as the “Debt Ceiling.” The debt ceiling is a borrowing limit set by Congress to control federal spending. Like a credit card, our borrowing limit can be increased if authorized by Congress – which it routinely is. Since coming to Congress, I have voted against every increase in the debt ceiling because those increases have failed to include a plan to reduce the debt and deficit.

To get control of our spending, I have supported legislation to add a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution, which would ensure Congress cannot spend beyond its means. I have also recently introduced a bill to give every American a better understanding of how their hard-earned tax dollars are being spent by the federal government. The bill will create a publicly accessible database that Americans can use to download, search, and sort through spending allocations for each government department, agency and program of both the current fiscal year and the previous ten.

Read more about my new bill here.

By giving the American people better visibility into how their money is being spent, they will be empowered to engage with their elected officials and encourage them to correct our course of unsustainable spending. At $30 trillion dollars in debt, the American people deserve the opportunity to see where their Representatives are allocating their money.

The current attitude towards our growing debt and deficit is unacceptable. If American families across the nation must balance their budget, then their government should too. I’m committed to regaining control of this unchecked spending we’ve seen in Washington and, I will be introducing more legislation soon to address inflation. Stay tuned…

Until next week, if you are in need of assistance or would like to share your thoughts with me, please write me an e-mail here.

To keep up with what we’re doing in Washington, follow me on Twitter and Facebook for more updates! 

Sincerely,