Central ND News

WASHINGTON – On May 31, 2023, Congressman Kelly Armstrong (R-ND) released the following statement after voting for House passage of H.R. 3746, the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023.

“The greatest threat our country faces is our $31 trillion national debt. House Republicans made it clear that we can’t continue raising the debt ceiling without serious discussions to address the debt. For nearly 100 days, President Biden refused to negotiate. He finally came to the table and this deal is the result of divided government.

This bill constitutes the largest spending cut in history, reducing the deficit by $2.1 trillion over 6 years, without any cuts to our national defense or veterans programs. It makes the most significant permitting reform in 40 years. This will make it easier to get needed infrastructure in the ground that will help producing states like North Dakota get our products to market. It institutes commonsense work requirements. It enacts the first ever Administrative PAYGO to bring fiscal accountability to executive actions and rescinds $29 billion in unspent COVID funds.

This bill is far from perfect, but with Republicans only controlling one half of one branch of government, it has many conservative wins and is a step in the right direction to bringing fiscal sanity back to Washington,” said Congressman Armstrong.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) confirmed on Tuesday that the Fiscal Responsibility Act is the largest spending cut that Congress has ever voted for in history. According to the CBO, the bill will reduce the deficit by $2.1 trillion over 6 years.  This bill will also claw back $29 billion in unspent COVID funds, make the first significant reform to the National Environmental Policy Act in more than 40 years, slash funding for President Biden’s army of IRS agents, and end out-of-control government spending.  

The Fiscal Responsibility Act does all this while fully funding critical veterans programs and national defense priorities while preserving Social Security and Medicare. 

The bill can be found here.

A section-by-section breakdown of the bill can be found here.

Original source can be found here.