Chairman Arrington on America’s Debt Crisis: “We Are at an Inflection Point”

House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington (TX-19) joined House Republican Leadership for a press conference following a bipartisan briefing from Director Phillip Swagel of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). This briefing for all Members of the House discussed budget, the economy, and the budgetary effects of legislative changes and comes a day before the release of the President's budget proposal.    

Click here or read below for Arrington's full remarks.

"So let me say this - the American people, on all sides of the political spectrum, are hungry for leadership. And long before the gentleman behind me was elected as Speaker, he was saying, we have two major threats to the future of our country - China and the debt. And we're going to have different views between the Republican conference and our Democrat colleagues on how to address the debt crisis that looms large over the future of our country. And I think we're at an inflection point.

"As somebody said, 'we cannot defy the laws of economic gravity forever'... We will triple our interest payments over 10 years, from a half a trillion to one and a half trillion. We will pay more to service the debt than to pay for all of the United States national defense. That ought to make everybody here shudder at the predicament we're in.

"But, what the Speaker did today, helps all of us sort of diffuse the emotions behind this, the politics behind it, and say, 'we can agree to disagree on our vision and our plans and our strategies to bend the curve, to put us on a sustainable path, and to save the country from a debt crisis - but, what we can't do is disagree on the math'.

"So, today wasn't about Republican or Democrat - it's about the mathematic reality that our country faces. And I am so grateful because when my Speaker and the Leader of our House sets that kind of tone - well, then I would say there's a lot we can do coming behind that as Americans first."