EO: Walden weighs in on U.S. debt committee

By SAMANTHA TIPLER
Friday, September 2, 2011 12:25 pm
https://bit.ly/pkeWXy

U.S. Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore, said he believes the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction — better known as the super committee — will meet its November deadline.

But what results he hopes the committee, charged with identifying $1.5 trillion in cuts from the national budget over 10 years, may produce, Walden wouldn’t say.

In a quick interview Thursday during his visit to Milton-Freewater, the Hood River congressman wouldn’t identify any specific programs he hopes are spared.

But he did say the 12-member bipartisan committee may find ways to streamline government and help it save money in the long run.

“Are there ways to create efficiencies that produce savings over the long term?” he asked. “We’ve all had to do it in our family and business budgets. And sometimes that takes a little up-front investment and long-term savings. Sometimes it’s you just don’t need that agency or program anymore. It’s out-used its usefulness.”

He didn’t give any specifics. Walden said he had faith the committee would find solutions, although likely at the last minute.

He said a committee atmosphere may be more conducive to finding a plan the House, Senate and president could agree on.

“It’s really no different than when you have a conference committee between the House and the Senate on legislation when there’s disagreement,”?Walden said. “You have a group of senators and a group of House members and they get together and they try to hammer it out. Each house decides if they’re going to support it and the president weighs in. So in terms of legislating its not all that different.”

If the committee fails to make the necessary cuts, $1.2 trillion will be automatically trimmed over the next 10 years across the board.

“There’s a meat cleaver hanging over virtually every program in the government,” he said. “There’s a built-in pressure system designed to give the committee of 12 an incentive to act responsibly and act by their deadlines.”

Though the debt debates last month were highly bipartisan and contentious, Walden said the U.S. government sometimes works that way, and should work that way. The super committee, with an equal number of Republicans and Democrats, represents a microcosm of the diverse views from across the country.

“You have representation about as conservative as you get and about as liberal as you get,”?he said. “But that is our process and that is our country. We have different views that demand to be represented on committees like that. If you think about Eastern Oregon versus downtown San Francisco or downtown Portland — it’s a little different philosophy. And that’s reflective of the Congress.”