Speaker McCarthy on Largest-ever Deficit Reduction Bill: I Want to Be a Part of History

We’re going to pass the largest cut in American history. It's just a small step putting us on the right track. After today, I'm going to put a commission together to look at the entire budget. This debt is too large, and we can't solve the problem just looking at 11%. But I'm going to make it a bipartisan commission that we can be very serious about looking long term to solve this problem once and for all.

We shouldn't have to go to a debt ceiling where a president ignores us for 97 days. We make good policies in here with work requirements. It’s going to change people's lives. People are going to get a job because of this. Roads are going to be built because of NEPA reform faster. It's going to save us money in the long run.

Does it matter to you, though, that you won't have the entire conference behind you? No, it matters. It's going to become law. If I would, if I'm a member of Congress, I wouldn't want history to pass me by. But I could do the biggest cut and I could do work reforms for welfare. And I can see that we can reform NEPA for the first time in 40 years.

So you're cutting the red tape to build things that make America competitive. Everybody has a right to their own opinion. But on history, I'd want to be here with this bill today.