Life is about making choices

By U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman
R-Arkansas

We all know that life is about making choices. Serving in Congress requires making big choices on a big stage that are forever chronicled in our vote record. And making choices is about setting priorities. House Republicans have made it clear that cutting spending, securing the border, and keeping our men and women in uniform paid are our top priorities. On Sept. 29, my vote reflected that.

I voted yes on the Spending Reduction and Border Security Act, a conservative solution to slash wasteful government spending, secure the border, and keep the government open for 45 days while we continue to debate and pass our funding bills.

Every single Democrat in the House voted against it, killing an opportunity to secure our border. Since President Biden took office, thousands of pounds of fentanyl and millions of illegal immigrants, including over 150 on the terror watch list, have poured over our southern border and into our communities. Democrats have continued to turn a blind eye, and every single one of them made their priorities very clear with their vote on the Spending Reduction and Border Security Act.

There were also 21 House Republicans who voted no. They voted against keeping our government open because they did not believe the solution was conservative enough. Let me be clear: the Spending Reduction and Border Security Act was a very conservative piece of funding legislation.

It would have extended government funding through Oct. 31 while cutting current spending levels by 29.89% across the board, except for the Department of Defense, Homeland Security, and Veterans Affairs. It would have created a bi-cameral Fiscal Commission to improve our fiscal state. Specifically, the Commission would identify and recommend policies to restore fiscal sanity and provide long-term solutions to tackle our national debt.

Most importantly, it would have secured the border by forcing the Biden Administration to resume border wall construction, strengthen border patrol capabilities, and enhance border security overall. Far-Left Democrats' open border policies have created a nationwide crisis. It has gotten so bad that the Biden Administration has even resorted to turning our National Parks into camps for illegal migrants.

With just hours before a lapse in appropriations and government shutdown, the House voted on a continuing resolution (CR) that included disaster relief funding but does not include border security provisions nor cuts to wasteful spending to extend government funding for 45 days. This CR averts a government shutdown and allows Congress 45 more days to pass the remaining appropriations bills and fund our government through Fiscal Year 24. I voted YES to avoid a government shutdown by temporarily extending funding, allowing House Republicans ample time to do our job, reining in wasteful spending, and continuing the border fight.

However, we had an opportunity to do the same thing while securing the border, cutting reckless government spending by nearly 30% across the board, and still supporting our veterans and funding our defense. It was a missed victory, but an opportunity to begin more intelligently.