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Representative Scott DesJarlais (TN-04) issued the following statement after voting against Senator Reid’s Debt Limit plan:

“It appears that our Democratic colleagues in the Senate fail to grasp the seriousness of our nation’s job-crushing debt.

“Phony accounting and budgeting gimmicks are not the type of bold leadership that our country desperately needs in this time of fiscal peril.

“This is the worst type of bill: It gives the president a $2.4 trillion blank check to continue his taxpayer-funded spending spree, contains more than $1 trillion in imaginary “savings” and instead of cutting wasteful government spending, it takes away funds that are vital for our men and women serving in uniform. I find it shameful for anyone to suggest that we pay for Washington’s irresponsible fiscal policies by shortchanging our troops.

“Further, according the CBO, this bill only reduces spending by $927 billion. This is nearly $1.5 trillion less than the president’s request for a $2.4 trillion debt limit increase. That is not a solution.

“We have an out of control deficit and it is going to take more than insignificant cuts and imaginary savings in order to put our nation back on the right fiscal track.”