NE Wyoming News

Washington, DC – On May 31, Congresswoman Harriet Hageman voted against H.R. 3746, a bill that would raise the debt ceiling by an unspecified amount and establish the FY 2023 appropriations, so called “Inflation Reduction Act”, and COVID era emergency bills passed by Biden/Pelosi/Schumer as the baseline for future government spending. 

 Rep. Hageman stated, “I appreciate the hard work of Speaker McCarthy and the other members to reach an agreement on this bill, and I support several of the components included in it. Clawing back unused COVID funds, adding rules to ensure an appropriations process that avoids omnibus (code for out-of-control spending) bills, restarting student loan repayments, and providing for the first actual reduction in spending by Congress in decades are all steps in the right direction. 

“Where this bill falls short, and why I did not vote in favor of it, comes down to two key issues. First, I do not accept the current level of spending as a baseline for future spending. The spending caps established in H.R. 3746 are based upon recent appropriations and legislation, which have been greatly inflated over the past few years – in fact, 40% of all national debt was incurred while Nancy Pelosi was Speaker of the House. Second, I have been steadfast in my mission to rein in the administrative state, take power out of Washington, and return it to the people. H.R. 3746 provides more deference to agency bureaucrats to make new rules, with the cost of those rules placed on the backs of private businesses and individuals. 

 “When I ran for Congress, I made a promise to listen to the concerns of Wyomingites and be their voice in the House of Representatives. In the eighteen town halls I have held since January, and at the many community events I have attended, spending and government overreach by bureaucrats in Washington are the biggest issues mentioned. Just this week, I received hundreds of calls and emails from constituents on this specific bill – and an overwhelming 95% have urged me to vote no. 

 “The legislation fails to significantly reduce our national debt and does not do enough to rein in the administrative state. We have very few opportunities and little time to gain control of the unsustainable debt facing our nation – it is imperative that raising the debt ceiling be coupled with more aggressive spending cuts and regulatory reform. I look forward to working with the Speaker and my fellow House Republicans to achieve deeper cuts and greater reforms through the appropriations process and with other legislation throughout the rest of the 118thCongress.”

 Summary of key concerns with H.R. 3746:

• Establishes FY 2023 as baseline budget – this fails to revert spending to pre-COVID levels. 
• Suspends the debt ceiling until 2025, enabling Biden and a divided Congress to generate an untold amount in new federal debt.
• Waivable provisions in the bill would only reduce spending against the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) baseline by $1.5 trillion over ten years.
• Omits the REINS Act, which was a major reform to the regulatory process and was included in H.R. 2811 - the Limit, Save, Grow Act.

Contact: Chris Berardi, Senior Advisor/Communications Director

Original source can be found here.