WASHINGTON – On Thursday afternoon, Rep. Martha Roby, R-Montgomery, released a YouTube video explaining her “no” vote on legislation to re-open the government and raise the federal debt ceiling, which passed by a 285-144 margin in the U.S. House.
The Montgomery Republican said she couldn’t support the bill because it did nothing to rein in out-of-control spending that is causing the national debt to skyrocket.
“Late Wednesday night Congress passed a deal to fund the government and raise the debt limit,” she said. “The good news is that the government functions people count on will once again be operational and we have avoided defaulting on our debt. The bad news is that half a trillion dollars will be added to the national debt without one single reform to rein in spending. That’s why I couldn’t support the Senate plan. Washington’s addiction to spending is what led to this mess, and piling on more debt while ignoring the spending problem is exactly the wrong approach.”
But once again, as she did in her press release shortly before Wednesday’s vote, Roby criticized the Tea Party-backed strategy she believes led to the shutdown in the first place.
“As you know, this is a temporary deal, so in all likelihood we will be right back discussing these same issues in a matter of months,” she said. “We have to go about the next budget and debt negotiations in a smarter way. Shutting down the government was a losing strategy from the beginning, and I’m urging leaders in my party to adopt a wiser strategy next time. The American people overwhelmingly agree that the United States spends too much money and holds too much debt as a result. I believe we can achieve meaningful reforms that get our country on a solid financial footing, but only if we stop bickering and start communicating.”
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