WASHINGTON – Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) made these remarks after voting no on H.R. 1314, the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015:

“Republicans and Democrats should be able to agree to protect the full faith and credit of the United States. Washington does enough damage to the economy — instead, it should provide the certainty needed for growth.

“But surely we can do much better than this terrible deal that resulted from a dysfunctional process.

“This deal lifts the caps that halted President Obama’s 2009 spending spree and reined in his big-government ambition for five years. In exchange for $80 billion of new spending over two years, it promises spending restraint 10 years from now. It pays for recurring expenses by a one-time sale from the strategic petroleum reserve — at a time of low oil prices. It makes Social Security’s fiscal problems worse by diverting money to make its disability program briefly look solvent. It allows the federal debt — which already rose 71% since President Obama took office, which now totals $56,710 for every person in the United States — to rise without limit for the next year and a half.

“This deal makes changes across federal programs — in agriculture, health care, Social Security, taxes. The people’s business deserves transparency. This back-room process does not permit it.

“The public expects, and should demand, that we do better. I have fought consistently to limit out-of-control spending and prioritize spending. I was proud to be part of crafting the first balanced budget in 14 years. This deal takes us off that responsible path and puts us back on a path of unrestrained spending and borrowing. That is reason enough to oppose it and is why I voted no.”

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