WASHINGTON,
D.C. – U.S. Congressman Allen Boyd (D-North Florida) today applauded
passage of the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2009 that would reinstate
statutory pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) rules into federal law, a longstanding
priority of Congressman Boyd’s. PAYGO is a proven-effective budget
enforcement tool that only allows Congress to spend a dollar to create
new programs if it saves a dollar elsewhere, thereby helping to reduce
deficits and spending.
“The passage of PAYGO
in the House is a tremendous victory for the American people and for
those of us who know that our federal government cannot afford to
continue to live outside its means,” said Congressman Boyd. “We are
putting our economy and national security at risk by allowing so much
of our debt to be held by so few, and we are merely passing the bill –
with interest – to our children and grandchildren. I believe this
irresponsible practice is fiscally reckless and morally wrong. While
PAYGO is not a cure-all for all of our economic problems, it is an
invaluable tool that will help limit the size of deficits, hold the
line on spending, and put our country back on a fiscally responsible
path.”
Throughout his years in public service,
Congressman Boyd has been one of the strongest voices for fiscal
responsibility in the federal government, and he has consistently led
the charge to restore budget enforcement tools, like PAYGO. This
commonsense principle was implemented with bipartisan support in 1990
and led to balanced budgets and later surpluses, until it was allowed
to expire by the Republican-led Congress in 2002.
“Reinstating
PAYGO budget discipline has been a long-standing priority of mine, and
today we are taking the next step to make that goal a reality,” Boyd
stated. “The House has acted, and now the Senate must act as well. It
is time to put an end to the out-of-control deficit spending that has
led our country down such a fiscally disastrous path. I will continue
to work with my colleagues in the House and the Senate to see that
statutory PAYGO reaches the President’s desk.”
The Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2009 now awaits consideration by the Senate.