Lubbock Times

House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington (R-TX) delivered opening remarks today at the markup of six bills aimed at improving the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

In his statement, Arrington reflected on the history and challenges of the Budget Act, which was created 50 years ago. He noted that only four times in those 50 years have all 12 appropriations bills and a budget been completed. "We don't pass budgets on time. We don't consider budgets. We don't debate them like we should. We don't implement them like we should," he said.

Arrington emphasized bipartisan dysfunction in budget processes, mentioning statutory PAYGO introduced by Democrats in 2010, which has not been enforced since its inception. "Since 2010, we haven't enforced statutory PAYGO, not one year. We have failed to offset $12 trillion," he stated.

He stressed the importance of working together to make necessary changes for efficient governance and resource stewardship. "We owe it to the American people to do the right thing by the People's Government and stewardship of their resources," Arrington said.

Highlighting bipartisan efforts within the committee, Arrington expressed appreciation for his ranking member's cooperation: "This is not a partisan exercise... When we have disagreements, we do that respectfully."

Arrington pointed out past successes in bipartisan budget reforms and called for continued collaboration to address future fiscal challenges. He cited a need for solutions to Social Security's unfunded liabilities: "Mr. Peters said it himself, if we do nothing on Social Security, every Social Security beneficiary is going to take a 20 percent hit."

He concluded by addressing what he sees as the nation's biggest challenge: an unsustainable fiscal path with growing debt levels. "At the end of the day, the American people are going to vote for what they think is the best path for our country," he remarked.

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