WASHINGTON – U.S. Congresswoman Candice Miller (MI-10) today issued the following statement after the House Republican Conference meeting at the White House:

“I thank the President for the fact that he invited members of the House Republican Conference to the White House today to discuss how we can work together to confront the many important challenges facing our nation. We made very clear that one of our top priorities is getting a grip on out-of-control government spending and our ever growing national debt. This issue is particularly timely in light of yesterday’s vote in the House on an increase in our nation’s debt ceiling that did not include any spending cuts or caps that had been requested by the Obama Administration and some House Democrats - which was resoundingly rejected by a large bipartisan majority. The House Republican Conference wants to join with the President to craft legislation that will ensure our nation doesn’t default on its obligations, which nobody wants, but does make the hard choices needed to put the federal government on a path to fiscal discipline and economic prosperity. We made clear that we will not increase the national debt limit if we do not make both short and long-term spending cuts and caps and structural budgetary reforms.

“We in the House Republican Conference have already put forward a plan that has been scored by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and does address in a firm and balanced way our long-term spending problem. In putting this plan forward, House Republicans put the good of the nation ahead of short-term political considerations and the result has been the demagoguery against these common sense reforms we’ve seen in recent weeks. However, to date the President has only put forward a budget that does nothing to address long-term spending addiction in Washington and was voted down 97-0 by the United States Senate. Although the President has made several speeches about the need to cut spending and reform government, speeches cannot be scored by the CBO. Today, we again asked him for a clear plan so we, and the American people, can honestly compare the numbers to help us come to a solution.

“I appreciate the President for extending this invitation and taking time to hear the concerns of House Republicans, and although we clearly have differences, I feel somewhat more optimistic that we will find a solution to address the debt ceiling issue because I think it is now very clear that the President understands how serious we are to our commitment to get this nation’s fiscal house in order. I hope we can now address this quickly, not waiting until we are at a deadline which will create unnecessary anxiety among the markets and citizens.”

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