Press Releases

Today, the House Budget Committee, on which Congressman Jodey Arrington (TX-19) serves, held a hearing on President Trump’s budget request for fiscal year 2019. The hearing included testimony from Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Mick Mulvaney.

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During the hearing, Arrington commended President Trump for fulfilling his promises to the American people. “I’m encouraged by what I’ve seen, the results and the actions of this president, and so I want to start with a praise that this president has put our safety and security first, and it’s about time…he’s done exactly what he said he would do.” However, Arrington urged OMB Director Mick Mulvaney and the President to “take on entitlement reform in a much bigger and more meaningful way.” “I wish we could add to his [Trump’s] proposition of promises, that we would go more aggressively at what I believe is the greatest threat to the future of this country and to our children and grandchildren,” said Arrington. Asked what areas the government needs to address to limit federal spending, Mulvaney answered, “we think [our budget] does offer an idea on how to save a bunch of money. Now we do focus on the non-defense, discretionary side of the budget but we also, as I mentioned earlier, have 1.7 trillion dollars of reductions in mandatory spending over the course of the 10 years.” Arrington responded, “I appreciate the efforts to reduce spending on both sides of the equation, mandatory and non-defense discretionary, while we are making the appropriate investment in our military and other core functions of the government. But, if we are really going to solve the debt issue, and stave off a crisis, and commit to our children a strong, safe and free America, we’ve got to go bigger on these entitlement reforms.” Arrington also commented on the President’s commitment to rural infrastructure. “I come from a big swath of rural Texas. These are the food, fuel, and fiber producers. They are the backbone of this country from a traditional American values standpoint, but they don’t just contribute to our economy, they contribute to our food security and energy independence. Seventy-five percent of the geography is rural in America, but only one of every six Americans live in rural communities, and virtually 100 percent of the food, fuel, and fiber is produced by these country boys and country girls living in country places. Thank you for the commitment to rural infrastructure. Tell me how that process is going to work and how would broadband and access to the internet, which is not happening in 50 percent of rural communities?” “A large portion of the infrastructure bill is focused on things we know could cash flow - could generate receipts - like an airport, a port, a toll bridge, that type of thing. But, we also recognize that in a large portion of the country, as you mentioned, those models don’t work, which is why we earmarked, for lack of a better word, I think it was 50 billion dollars for things specifically like rural broadband because we know they are absolutely critical to the long-term infrastructure of the country, long-term economic health of the country, and that they couldn’t be leveraged the way other programs might be,” replied Mulvaney. Members of the House Budget Committee will now begin work to craft a budget blueprint of their own.

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