Bowling Green Today

On March 22, 2024, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) addressed the Senate floor to express his concerns about a $1.2 trillion spending bill that is expected to pass today. The bill, which spans over 1,000 pages and includes more than 1,400 earmarks, was released at 2:32 am early Thursday. In response to what he sees as an excessive spending problem by both parties in Washington, Dr. Paul has introduced a Motion to Refer With Instructions to the spending bill that instructs the Senate Committee on Appropriations to cut 5 percent from the bill. This reduction would not apply to amounts made available to the Department of Defense or for securing the international border of the U.S.

In his remarks on the Senate floor, Dr. Paul highlighted his concern about the rate of government spending: “We are spending at such a rate that we add an average of a trillion dollars to the debt every 90 days. If that pace continues, instead of $1.5 trillion it could be up to $4 trillion in the next year.”

He also expressed his belief that Congress's propensity for overspending poses a significant threat: “Our nation’s greatest threat comes not from abroad but from within the halls of Congress, which, at every opportunity, looks for ways to ignore our spending problem and expedite our economic decline.”

Dr. Paul warned about potential consequences of this level of borrowing and spending: “This reckless level of borrowing and spending is unsustainable. The ever-increasing heights of our debt mean a weak economy, high inflation, and confiscatory tax rates. In other words, today’s spending threatens tomorrow’s prosperity."

Finally, he urged his colleagues in Congress to consider his proposal: "Today, instead of a balanced budget, I merely ask this that this bill be sent back to the Appropriations Committee and that they report to the full Senate about how to responsibly cut 5 percent from this bloated monstrosity. We wouldn’t eliminate anything but anything that you’re going to spend money on, is going to get 5 percent less.”

Dr. Paul's motion can be read here, and his floor remarks can be watched here.