Boyle Opening Statement at Budget Committee Organizing Meeting for 119th Congress
WASHINGTON, D.C. —Today, Pennsylvania Congressman Brendan F. Boyle, Ranking Member of the House Budget Committee, delivered remarks at the Budget Committee’s organizing meeting for the 119th Congress.
Remarks as delivered and video are below:
Ranking Member Boyle’s full opening remarks as delivered:
I thank all of the new members to this committee, as well as the returning members. I want to personally thank you, Jodey, Mr. Chairman. You know, we sat here exactly two years ago, and both spoke about striking a tone of civility and seriousness when it comes to this committee.
And, even when we've had disagreements, I can honestly say that we upheld that. As did every member of this committee. In fact, I said two years ago that, you know, there are certain committees in Congress that the performance artists just love to be on. This isn't one of them. We're going to do serious work.
And we did that. And the fact that 17 bills passed out of this committee, we had not had one bill passed out of this committee in decades. And then here we are able to pass 17 and 11 of them were supported on the Democratic side of the dais. You know, bipartisanship is a two-way street. And when the majority is willing to work with us, they will see that you have a willingness on this side to achieve bipartisanship. We will, on principle, fight on those areas where we cannot agree, and that's exactly what we should be doing.
But there are areas where we can agree and make a positive difference. And I appreciate his support of my bill, the CBO Data Sharing Act, that will make the Congressional Budget Office better at their jobs so that they can serve Congress and get us the accurate data. And that's just one of the 11 pieces of legislation that passed out of this committee and ultimately got over the finish line.
I will say, specifically on debt, and we'll have a lot of time to get into this in the weeks and months and the two years ahead, the Chairman has spoken genuinely because I know it's coming from a sincerely held view in a genuine place, that our debt is a ticking time bomb. And I know he's sincere about it.
I have to say, and I've made this observation before, that a lot of my friends on the other side of the aisle talk passionately about deficit and debt when there's a Democrat in the White House. Then, suddenly when the occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue switches, the focus gets on the tax cuts. And you don't hear as much about deficit and debt.
I certainly hope that pattern that I've seen repeatedly over the last several decades does not follow this time. Because as I mentioned here before, while I'm not a debt alarmist — I don't think we're suddenly going to see a run on our debt tomorrow — the projections in the medium term are frightening. I'll never forget that when we had former Senator Mitt Romney here at a hearing that we held this past year, he recited the old line that when someone went into debt and went bankrupt, they asked him “how did it happen?” and he said "slowly at first and then all at once."
Well, when you look at those projections for the next decade, which by the way, we're now only five years away from hitting. When you look at those projections and then you add 4.6 trillion dollars of new debt on top of it, which is what the extension of the TCJA would cost, we're getting closer and closer to that day where it was all at once.
We've had Moody's and others talk about the movement that we're seeing on a daily basis in the 10-year bond market. If we were to see a run on our debt and suddenly yields and interest rates go from 4 percent to 14 and beyond, that's where it would start to happen. So, I hope that this is the term that all of us really take the debt issue seriously before it's too late. And as you know, my friend, you will have a sincere partner in me and those of us on that side of the aisle, so that we can leave a better country for our children and our grandchildren. And with that, I'll yield back.
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