News release
Rep. Mike Garcia, R-Santa Clarita, released a statement Wednesday night after voting in favor of H.R. 3746, the Fiscal Responsibility Act, which passed the House of Representatives on a 314-117 vote.
The Senate took up the bill Thursday and was expected to vote on it by Thursday night, potentially raising the nation’s debt ceiling and averting a potentially disastrous U.S. government debt default in advance of a Monday deadline. As of the publication of this story, the Senate was voting on potential amendments to the bill.
“For months, the president refused to negotiate on the debt ceiling and only supported a clean debt ceiling increase without any changes to irresponsible spending habits,” Garcia’s statement said. “While operating in a divided government, with a tax-and-spend president, and the imminent threat of a catastrophic default looming, House conservatives managed to negotiate a bill that extracted significant cost savings that will help return our country to fiscal sanity.”
The congressman, who represents the Santa Clarita Valley, said the bill represented both a compromise and a win for taxpayers.
“While not perfect, I voted in favor of the Fiscal Responsibility Act because it cuts trillions in federal spending while protecting Social Security, Medicare, funding for our military, and veterans’ benefits,” his statement said. “This is the largest deficit reduction bill in history – a significant victory for the American taxpayer. This bill raises the debt ceiling to avoid default, claws back billions in unused COVID funds, nixes Biden’s funding request to hire additional IRS agents, and cuts red tape to lower energy costs and accelerate infrastructure development.
“No one is completely satisfied with this deal, but that’s the nature of compromise,” he added. “There is still much to do. Our nation’s debt remains the single biggest threat to our national security. We must continue working towards restoring fiscal sanity and curbing reckless government spending. I will always fight to protect Social Security, Medicare, and veterans’ benefits while preventing tax hikes on hard-working Americans.”
