Cong. Crawford Wants Permanent Spending Controls

Arkansas First District Congressman Rick Crawford (R) thinks the current budget debate isn’t likely to produce satisfactory results without a Constitutional change.

Crawford, speaking to radio station KASU 91.9 FM, said he doesn’t think the “no budget, no Congressional pay” measure recently passed by the House will have the desired outcome of producing a balanced budget.

“Passing a budget is simply not enough,” said Crawford while referencing the ballooning deficits of the 2000’s. “I think we need something bolder.”

He warned that looming sequestration cuts – scheduled to automatically go into effect in early March – could slash the wrong government priorities, such as the defense budget.

“A budget plan that balances within 10 years instead of 20, I think its unrealistic to think Congress is going to stick with that plan,” he said. Crawford noted that leadership changes and rollover in Congress seem destined to produce results that are unwound eventually.

“I’m still committed to trying to implement permanent spending controls, like a balanced budget amendment, and really make some fundamental changes about how Washington does business,” he added.

Crawford also sounded off on two major policy items he’ll be involved with in the upcoming Congress.

He says the U.S. House is ready to pursue a farm bill that will take last year’s extension further.

“We’re going to start again,” he said. “I think we’ll probably see another House version that is very similar to what we turned out last year.”

Crawford has been assigned as chairman of the House Agriculture subcommittee for Livestock, Rural Development and Credit.

“I’ve gotten pretty close to the chairman and he and I see eye-to-eye on these ag issues,” Crawford said.

He also fielded a question regarding climate change and President Obama’s environmental agenda.

“There’s not sound science to support some of the initiatives that the President, I think, is committed to. We know that some of the research was faulty and it drove a lot of the agenda for a long time. and then it turned out there were some questions about the validity of that research,” said Crawford. “I don’t see a lot of the green initiatives that are being talked about being supported by scientific data, but more supported by political agendas.”

You can listen to the full interview at this link.