“We did not come here to rubberstamp the President’s policies”

WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Jeb Hensarling (TX-5) appeared before a breakfast meeting of The Ripon Society yesterday morning, delivering a speech in which he not only shared his thoughts on the current budget stalemate, but explained why it is so critical that the U.S. take immediate action to reduce its national debt. 

“This debate is much larger than the President’s health care act,” he stated. “Not only do we hear complaints about health care, but we also know that we’re in the weakest, slowest, most tepid recovery in the post-war era. Tens of millions of our fellow countrymen remain unemployed and underemployed. They go to bed each night and wake up wondering how they will make ends meet. 

“We have no doubt that the regulatory red tape policies of the administration — be it the Affordable Care Act, be it Dodd-Frank, be it EPA, NLRB, CFPB and every other alphabet soup agency that is making it difficult to create jobs and opportunities in America — is why we continue to have this non-recovery recovery. At the same time, we are on the precipice of a debt crisis, the likes of which I believe our nation has never seen.” 

“The President expects us to literally rubberstamp the debt increase. He said that he will not negotiate … We stand ready to negotiate. We do not expect to get everything we desire in divided government. But again, we did not come here to rubberstamp the President’s policies. And under the leadership of Speaker Boehner, I know that we will not.” 

First elected in 2002, Hensarling serves as Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee. In response to a question following his remarks, he discussed his priorities as Financial Services Chairman and why oversight of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will be a top item on his agenda in the coming year. 

“There’s no agency in the history of America that is less accountable and more powerful that can do more harm to the financial services arena than the Orwellian-named CFPB,” he stated. “There is no agency of government within our jurisdiction that calls for greater oversight, and you will be seeing that, day by day and week by week. We have a laundry list of items at the CFPB now that we expect answers to, not the least of which is what are they doing with confidential consumer data. How are they getting it? How they are using it? This is an agency that frankly can be very abusive. So you will be seeing a number of oversight hearings and legislative items aimed at the CFPB.” 

The Ripon Society is a public policy organization that was founded in 1962 and takes its name from the town where the Republican Party was born in 1854 – Ripon, Wisconsin. One of the main goals of The Ripon Society is to promote the ideas and principles that have made America great and contributed to the GOP’s success. These ideas include keeping our nation secure, keeping taxes low and having a federal government that is smaller, smarter and more accountable to the people.