WASHINGTON— Congressman Cuellar (TX-28), a member of the Blue Dog Coalition, helped pass H. Res. 6, A Resolution Providing for the House Rules of the 116^th Congress, which establishes congressional House rules. The resolution included a measure restoring the bipartisan Pay-As-You-Go (PAYGO) rules. PAYGO, a Blue Dog initiative, requires that both mandatory spending and tax cuts must be offset to prevent increasing the national debt.

The last time PAYGO was in place was 2010, when the Blue Dog Coalition worked with Democratic Leadership to restore the rules to ensure the government does not spend beyond its means. However, when Republicans took the majority in 2011, they excluded tax cuts and other policies decreasing revenue from PAYGO rules.

During that time, Congressman Cuellar and his colleagues in the fiscally conservative coalition have worked to pass legislation that would restore PAYGO rules that require offsets for both spending increases and revenue decreases, reining-in federal spending and drawing down the nation’s debt.

“Reinstating PAYGO is the swiftest action we can take to restore fiscal responsibility," said Congressman Cuellar. "This legislation was built on bipartisan ideas to better our economy— under these rules, Congress can’t spend a penny without cutting a penny from elsewhere.

“It is time that we address our country’s unprecedented debt, almost $22 trillion, head on. PAYGO is a crucial step in this goal, ultimately reducing the deficit and putting the economy back on track for the benefit of the American people.”

###