Bob Corker Praises House for Passing Cut, Cap, and Balance, Calls on Senate to Do the Same VIDEO

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Bob Corker, R-Tenn., an original co-sponsor of S.1340, the Cut, Cap, and Balance Act of 2011, praised the House for passing their version of the bill and called on the Senate to do the same.

“This legislation puts on paper what I’ve been pushing from day one of the 112th Congress: we need spending cuts now, a long-term plan like the CAP Act to put a fiscal straitjacket on Congress, and a constitutional amendment to keep Congress from falling off the wagon as it relates to over-spending,” Corker said. “Now, more than 813 days since the Senate passed a budget, we must put enforceable limits on all future spending in a way that encourages economic growth and demonstrates to the American people and the world that we will get our debt and deficits under control.”

The Cut, Cap, and Balance Act, S.1340, would dramatically reduce federal spending as a share of the economy over the next decade by setting enforceable limits on all annual federal spending similar to the Corker CAP Act. It would significantly reduce non-defense discretionary spending in 2012 and require passage of a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution, which Corker and all Senate Republicans have supported separately in S.J. Res 10.

About the Corker CAP Act:

Introduced by Sen. Corker in December 2010, the CAP Act, S. 245, would set an across-the-board, binding cap on all federal spending. The fiscal straitjacket created by the CAP Act would result in $7.6 trillion less spending over a 10 year period. Specifically, the bill would:

(1) Put in place a 10-year glide path to cap all spending – discretionary and mandatory – to a declining percentage of the country’s gross domestic product, eventually bringing spending down from the current level, 24.7 percent of GDP, to the 40-year historical level of 20.6 percent, and

(2) If Congress fails to meet the annual cap, require the Office of Management and Budget to make evenly distributed, simultaneous cuts throughout the federal budget to bring spending down to the pre-determined level. Only a two-thirds vote in both houses of Congress could override the binding cap, and

(3) For the first time, eliminate the deceptive “off-budget” distinction for Social Security – providing a complete and accurate assessment of all federal spending.

Senate sponsors of the CAP Act include: Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), Joe Lieberman (ID-Conn.), Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.).

Representatives Jim Cooper (D-TN-5) and Jimmy Duncan (R-TN-2) have introduced a companion version of the bill in the House, which is cosponsored by Diane Black (R-TN-6), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN-7), Scott DesJarlais (R-TN-4), Stephen Fincher (R-TN-8), Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN-3), Jim Renacci (R-OH-16) and Phil Roe (R-TN-1).

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TEXT CREDIT: United States Senator Bob Corker, Tennessee Washington, D.C. United States Senate Dirksen Senate Office Building SD-185 Washington, DC 20510 Main: 202-224-3344 Fax: 202-228-0566

VIDEO and IMAGE CREDIT: senatorcorker