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The Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, the bill that suspends the nation’s debt limit for the next two years, was signed into law Saturday by President Joe Biden. With overwhelming bipartisan support, the legislation was approved by the House of Representatives, 314 to 117, last Wednesday and by the Senate, 63 to 36, late Thursday.
U.S. Rep. Ben Cline, Republican whose Sixth District encompasses all of Rockbrige County, Buena Vista and Lexington, cast his vote against the bill, which was supported by the state’s two Democratic senators, Mark Warner and Tim Kaine. The offices of all three issued statements in which they explained the reasons for their votes.
Before voting to support the legislation, Kaine introduced an amendment to remove a provision in the bill that expedites the permitting process for the Mountain Valley Pipeline. Kaine said he was “introducing this amendment to strip this harmful provision – which is completely unrelated to the debt limit – from the bill because I owe it to the Virginians impacted by the pipeline – including the hundreds of Virginians whose land is being taken away – to ensure the project only proceeds following fair administrative and judicial review. I urge my colleagues to join me in righting this wrong.”
The amendment failed, as did all other attempts to amend the compromise legislation raising the debt ceiling that was negotiated by Speaker of the House Kevin Mc-Carthy and President Biden.
Cline said he voted against the bill because of his opposition to the direction the president is leading the country. “Joe Biden’s policies have put America on a race to the bottom, and his debt limit agreement further rewards business-as-usual,” he said. “The American people and Virginia’s Sixth District demand and deserve fundamental change in how Washington operates. That’s why I voted ‘no’ on this deal.”
Kaine offered his thoughts on supporting the legislation, even though his amendment was defeated: “While I am disappointed that my effort [on removing the MVP provision] fell short, I’ve pledged to never jeopardize the full faith and credit of the United States and will thus vote ‘yes’ on final passage to avoid a catastrophic default.”
Warner acknowledged that “this deal is not perfect.” He said he too was disappointed by the inclusion of the MVP provision, and that he believes “Congress missed an important opportunity to lower the national debt when they refused to look at revenues and make our tax system a little bit fairer.”
However, “At the end of the day, I voted in favor of this bill because raising the debt ceiling is the right thing to do for our country and for the millions of Americans who are trying to get out of debt, purchase a home, save for retirement and so much more.” Summing up his feelings on the legislation’s enactment, he commented, “Today, we fulfilled a basic responsibility by raising the debt ceiling and avoiding an economic meltdown with catastrophic consequences for individuals and the global economy alike.”
