Congressman Daniel Webster is explaining his decision to vote with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and 165 Democrats on a measure lifting the debt ceiling.
The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday night voted 314-117 to pass the Fiscal Accountability Act of 2023.
The speaker was able to cobble together 149 Republicans, who with the help of 165 Democrats, gave McCarthy a much-needed victory. He had spent the weekend hammering out a deal with President Biden.
Republicans point out the bill requires Congress to spend less this year than it did last year and institutes welfare reforms that reduce mandatory spending for the first time in a decade, while responsibly addressing the debt ceiling crisis.
Webster hailed the spending cuts.
“For the first time in over a decade, Congress has embraced budget caps – as a result, the federal government’s discretionary spending will be less next year. I fought for budget caps of 2011 and opposed the budgets proposed by Democrats and Republicans alike over the last 10 years that pierced these caps and excessively spent taxpayer dollars,” Webster said.
The Republican who represents The Villages said children born today have a $95,000 bill from Washington D.C. – their share of America’s national debt.
“I owe it to my grandchildren and everyone’s grandchildren to embrace an opportunity I haven’t had since 2014 and that is to vote for a bill that requires Washington to spend less than it did the previous year,” Webster said.
The measure moves on to the U.S. Senate.
