Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) mentioned “border security, spending, healthcare” and ongoing military action based on “an 18-year-old authorization of force,” when asked what he considers the most significant issue that the country currently faces.
But the conservative congressman said that if he were forced to pinpoint one area it would be government spending, which “covers virtually all other sins.” He explained that “all of Washington’s largesse, all of its, you know, swampy deep state foibles can be connected to the insatiable desire to spend money.”
The country’s national debt continues a steep climb after recently surpassing the $23 trillion dollar milestone and it continues piling up at high-speed. Rep. Roy said “in Washington we’re racking up $100 million dollars of debt per hour.”
“The real big issue is we never sit down at the table like an American family or business and do our job. We never roll our sleeves up, and figure out how to solve complex problems, because no one has to,” Roy told Townhall, noting that Republicans push for defense spending and Democrats push for “non-defense discretionary spending” while both parties neglect tackling the issue of entitlements.
Rep. Roy wants to place debt clocks in two congressional rooms. His “Know Debt Resolution” calls for the adding them “in the main meeting rooms of the House Budget Committee and House Appropriations Committee,” his website explains.
He told Townhall that while he’s not a fan of “gimmicks,” he does not consider this idea to be one, noting that it will serve as a reminder of the national debt for the people making decisions about spending.
“I think it’s important for appropriators and those that do our budget to be sitting in their committee rooms and have to look at the debt clock sitting there rolling,” he said.
As the country faces another funding deadline this week Congress will likely push the deadline until next month by funding the government until just before Christmas on December 20th. Rep. Roy said that “This is the swamp doing absolutely nothing to address spending, doing nothing to actually do its job.”
“The appropriators and the sort of masters of the universe who pull all the puppet strings in this town, they’re all going to try to jam through a big spending bill on December 20th. That’s the goal,” he said.
All of this is objectionable and is a microcosm of what is wrong with DC.
— Rep. Chip Roy (@RepChipRoy) November 19, 2019
Congressman Roy also considers border security a key issue and laid out a number of specific steps toward securing the nation’s border.
He said the government should provide adequate funding for Border Patrol and ICE, place barriers along the border where possible, and eliminate “cane along the river on the Rio Grande in Texas.” He also called for the construction of a road that agents can use to patrol the border, though he noted there would be some “exceptions where there’s mountainous areas.”
He also called for altering the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA), addressing the Flores Settlement to eliminate catch-and-release, and addressing U.S. asylum laws “so that there is a path for asylum but you have to come through ports of entry and you have to follow our laws and there’s a very clear standard and we have enough judges to adjudicate it.” The congressman also wants Secretary of State Pompeo to designate some specific drug cartel entities as foreign terrorist organizations.
You can listen to the interview with Rep. Chip Roy below: