By U.S. Sen. Susan Collins
(R-Maine)
The fiscal crisis that came within two hours of leading to a federal government shutdown was caused by a failure of leadership. While I am pleased that a shutdown was averted, I am disappointed by the lack of leadership that caused the crisis in the first place. Last year was the first year since 1974 that Congress failed to pass a budget, which sets the framework for funding decisions. Because Congress also failed in its obligation to pass any of the 13 appropriations bills last year, we were faced with an untenable situation that threatened to disrupt the lives of Americans and cause further economic uncertainty. During the nearly six months since last October 1, which marked the start of the fiscal year, we have been funding the government with short-term, stop-gap, funding measures. This is not a responsible approach.
Finally, Congress finally passed a budget to take us through the remainder of the current fiscal year. This bill makes tough decisions and includes the biggest annual spending cut in history, but it also takes into account our nation’s priorities and helps protect jobs.
I am particularly relieved that, as I repeatedly urged, this agreement provides adequate funding for our brave troops, who should not have to worry about receiving the paychecks that they earned. With troops currently engaged in three wars, it was troubling that Congress had not, at a bare minimum, managed to pass a funding bill for the Department of Defense. The leadership of our military services repeatedly warned that operating under short-term continuing resolutions was damaging military readiness, research programs, and procurement of needed equipment. As the deadline for a shutdown neared, we were faced with the prospect that troops in the field would be told to continue to carry out their missions serving their country, but their pay would be delayed, which could create considerable hardship for them and their families back home. I led the effort to provide funding for our troops in the event of a shutdown to prevent this unconscionable outcome.
This brinkmanship could — and should — have been avoided. It is long past time that we set partisan politics aside and work together in good faith. And it is long past time for Congress and the Administration to finally shift their focus to the serious debate that must take place on the long-term budget challenges facing our country.
Good-faith negotiations are necessary to avoid gridlock and to make progress. The just-passed funding bill for the remainder of this fiscal year contains many positive elements I worked to secure. These include funding for two DDG-51 ships, including one to be built at Bath Iron Works, maintaining the Pell Grant Program to help low-income families afford college, eliminating an expensive extra jet engine for the F-35 fighter that the Pentagon did not need or want, maintaining most of the funding for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program that has been so valuable to economic development projects throughout Maine, and increasing funding for Head Start.
On the other hand, the bill contains some elements I do not favor. It does not provide a set level of funding for weatherization programs, and it reduces funding for energy efficiency and renewable energy programs. It fails to make significant cuts in the $6 billion we spend on subsidies for corn-based ethanol or on subsidies for wealthy corporate farmers. And it drastically cuts the Land and Water Conservation Fund, a vital program for state and community conservation, recreation, and park projects, including many in Maine.
These disappointments demonstrate the kind of short-sighted decision-making that results when responsibilities are not met and the shutdown clock is ticking. It is my hope that Congress and the Administration will take a much more thoughtful and reasoned approach to the difficult task of developing a budget for 2012 and demonstrate to the American people that we are willing to work together to put our country back on a strong fiscal course.
We face even tougher choices in the coming year – the soaring debt. We simply must rein in our spending and get our financial house in order. America’s runaway debt – more than $14 trillion and growing – poses a grave threat to our nation’s future prosperity. In February alone, the federal government accumulated the largest monthly deficit in history and spent nearly $22 billion in interest payments. That’s $775 million per day – more than Maine’s agriculture, forestry, and fishing industries produce in a year.
We simply cannot saddle the young people of today and the generations to come with the staggering burden of debt we are piling up. Without bold, urgent action, we are heading toward a future of financial stagnation, bogged down by slow job creation and sluggish economic growth.
But this crisis is not lying in wait for future generations — it is here today. Federal borrowing at this level hampers economic growth by crowding out private investment by businesses and individuals. We are making it too risky for entrepreneurs and businesses to raise capital, innovate, and create jobs. The soaring debt exposes our nation to foreign creditors, such as China, that may not share our values and strategic interests.
The first test of our willingness to meet this challenge with a spirit of cooperation is the coming debate on the debt ceiling, which is a cap Congress sets on how much the federal government can borrow. The current ceiling, nearly $14.3 trillion, could be reached by mid-May.
The debt limit debate presents an opportunity for Congress to approve some budget reforms that will help put real constraints on spending. For example, I have cosponsored a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution, a strong protection that I voted for in 1997, my very first year in the Senate. In addition, I am currently evaluating a bipartisan bill that would cap federal spending at a percentage of our country’s gross domestic product. There are other ways to cap spending that also deserve consideration.
It is unacceptable that we came at all close to a government shutdown. Going forward, the Administration and Congress must find the middle-ground that will allow us to agree on meaningful reforms that will put our country on a stronger, more responsible fiscal course.
