Senator Tim Scott Statement on Deal to Raise Debt Ceiling, Reopen Government

Washington – U.S. Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) released the following statement today regarding legislation to raise the debt ceiling and reopen the federal government.

“What we have learned from the past three weeks is clear – we have deep, underlying issues in how our nation budgets and spends. Ending the government shutdown is a good thing; however, raising the debt ceiling with absolutely zero offsetting reductions in spending is the poster child for the lack of fiscal foresight that is common place in Washington.

“There is a process in place for establishing a budget and appropriating dollars each year, and unfortunately that framework has simply been ignored for years now. Instead, patchwork, crisis-to-crisis government has taken over, ensuring duplicative and wasteful programs do not receive the scrutiny they deserve. How can we possibly hope to restore some fiscal sanity to our nation when we continue to simply extend every program all at once?

“We must stop saddling our kids and grandkids with more and more debt, and instead take steps to grow their opportunities. Though the constant gridlock may make it appear to be, finding solutions is not rocket science. The GAO has identified hundreds of billions of dollars of federal spending on programs that are duplicative – let’s start saving there. For example, last year we spent $20 million that went to create reality TV shows in India.

“Businesses plan for years at a time – government should do the same. Let’s take smart steps to rework our tax code and grow our economy. We can unleash America’s potential by getting our finances in order, improving our education system and ensuring our small business owners and their employees have the opportunity to innovate. The past few weeks have shown us the time to do this is now.”

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