WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Representative David Schweikert (AZ-01) took to the House floor to deliver his weekly speech, addressing the rapidly growing federal deficit, government inefficiencies, and several solutions he has introduced this Congress that effectively rein in spending and mitigate bureaucracy. If Congress does not prioritize the national debt, our country will have to DOUBLE every tax, leaving our children as the first generation to be poorer than their parents. Rep. Schweikert highlighted H.R. 8283, the CLEAN CLAIMS Act, which would expedite the Medicare claims process as well as detect improper payments. Last fiscal year, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid improperly paid $31.70 billion in claims. The only way out of this fiscal crisis is through, and implementing innovation in different government sectors is our fastest and cheapest method to accomplish that.
On the bond market’s growing stronghold of our country:
[Beginning at 8:27]
“Has anyone paid attention to the bond market the last three weeks? Have you noticed, that even though the [Federal Reserve] started to lower interest rates, we’re still sitting 4.5 – 4.5 percent on a ten? [Does] anyone understand that’s almost a full point higher than we expected at this point in the cycle? Do you understand what one point of interest means? Today, interest is the second biggest expense in the federal government. Last fiscal year, it was 14.1% of all of our spending– was just interest. We have an economist as part of the Joint Economic Committee, and we’re trying to model, [showing] at what point does interest– and the obligation to pay it– start to consume so much of our future? Then, you get yourself in the debt spiral, where interest rates keep going up because you’re considered riskier, and you just are in this interest trap. You almost don’t have enough to cut. We’re going to show [how] to actually deal with the interest track. A point of reference, think of this: the United States is no. 14 on the credit stack, meaning there [are] 13 other countries that can sell a ten-year bond cheaper than we can. When Greece, today, can sell a ten-year bond cheaper than the United States; when Greece today is actually paying down its debt from the last decade; and we’re borrowing $71,000 a second, [does] anyone see a problem?! But how many people you have seen come behind these mics? How many people in the election trail stood up in front of you and said, ‘We’ve got a problem…’?”
On calculating what happens after cutting every discretionary expense possible:
[Beginning at 14:36]
“[Say] you’re a brand-new member of Congress, yea! “I get to go vote.” Every dime is borrowed. And the way structurally we are, we’re also going to have to borrow probably $350 billion of what goes into earned benefits. Does that sound screwed up to people? Have you had other members explain this to you? Think of that. Every dime a member of Congress votes on is borrowed. Look, these charts are going to be unreadable, but I want to point out that I’m trying to make a point. [These are] actually a bunch of the outlays. You go through all the outlays, and we’re going to basically do it chart by chart. Then the next outlay. What would happen if I came and said, “All right, we’re going to cut, but we can’t cut Social Security, we can’t cut Medicare or mandatory spending– those are earned benefits. We’re going to get rid of all defense, all right? Defense is gone. Then we’re going to go to our next chart. We’re going to get rid of defense and let’s actually just get rid of a whole bunch of the discretionary budget. So, we go through and get rid of foreign aid! All done– not just Ukraine, all foreign aid [is] gone. Let’s close the IRS. Let’s close all these programs. You go through and basically wipe out– you can’t touch Social Security, can’t touch Medicare, and you can’t touch interest on the debt. Remember, interest on the debt last year was almost 14.1% of all of our spending, but you have to pay your bills. You continue to just get rid of all government. At what moment are you in balance? Turns out– and I know these are unreadable, but trust me on the point– you can get rid of every dime of defense, every dime of discretionary spending, and if you keep your promises of paying back your bonds, keep your promises to Social Security and Medicare, and a couple of the other mandatory programs– you just got rid of all government– you still would have to borrow money. When you get the brain trust that goes, “If we just got rid of foreign aid, we’d be fine!” You do the math, and you show them it’s like a week, a-week-and-a-half of borrowing, they just look at you with these daggers.“
On considering the economic impacts of a talent-based immigration system:
[Beginning at 31:24]
“What if I came to you and said we’re moving to a talent-based immigration system? It turns out, people with advanced degrees pay a boatload of taxes, they grow the economy and expand GDP. Our brothers and sisters may be wonderful people, but it turns out, the economic effects of those without a lot of skills, when they come into the United States, they actually squeeze out and lower the labor value of your domestic population that’s often in those lowest quartiles. [Maybe] you’re the couple that didn’t finish high school, but [you’re] out hanging drywall and working your heart out, and all of a sudden, you bring in how many people with a similar skill set… what happened to your labor rates? That’s the cruelty; what this administration did to the border is incredibly evil to the working poor. If we do something right in the tax code fixes– we want expensing on research and development, so we’re always innovating– it turns out, for that to really take off and grow the economy, we need a lot more smart people. Is it sane to be a country that invites people from around the world to come get your graduate agree, college degree, and then say ‘Congratulations, you earned the American technology, the American ethos, [but] oh, you’ve got to get the heck out of here,’ [and] send them back home? We’re out of our minds.”
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Congressman David Schweikert serves on the House Ways and Means Committee and is the current Chairman of the Oversight Subcommittee. He is also the Vice Chairman on the bicameral Joint Economic Committee, chairs the Congressional Valley Fever Task Force, and is the Republican Co-Chair of the Blockchain Caucus, Telehealth Caucus, Singapore Caucus, and the Caucus on Access to Capital and Credit.