The easiest and most politically advantageous choice for my career is to vote against the Fiscal Responsibility Act, but I couldn’t put myself and my political future ahead of the needs of this country.

I couldn’t say “no” to the biggest spending cut and the largest deficit reduction in U.S. history. In fact, this spending cut is larger than all the cuts from previous years combined. I
couldn’t risk our credit rating being downgraded and the markets crashing, causing every
American’s hard-earned savings and 401(k) to disappear over a single vote.

I couldn’t say “no” to finally having a way to tie this administration’s hands from spending
unlimited amounts of money with a simple executive order, which has happened more times than we can count since Joe Biden took office two and half years ago.

Folks, we are climbing a huge debt mountain here in D.C., and no single bill will completely
change that course of financial destruction we are headed towards. It’s going to take a lot of work from a lot of people, and it won’t happen overnight. What this bill is, though, is the first of many steps needed to climb this mountain of debt and start chipping away at it from the top down.

For anyone who is disappointed this bill does not cut enough spending or fix enough problems, keep in mind this is just the first step. The next step is the single largest tool we have to work with to get this country back on a positive financial course, and that is our Appropriations process.

With a well-thought-out Appropriations plan, we can make real cuts where needed, start
trimming the fat, and get rid of unnecessary departments ran by bureaucrats who don’t have our best interests at heart. This is exactly why I ran for the Appropriations Committee – so I can have a seat at the table and represent our values in Washington.

You sent me to Washington to lead, so I say let’s stick together and focus on getting the real issues out in the open so we can plan a march to recovery for our beloved country. It will take some time, and I will have to take some tough votes, but that’s my job.

Jerry Carl represents Alabama’s First Congressional District. He lives in Mobile with his wife Tina.