Incoming House Republican freshman class president Ken Buck says he’s willing to work with Democrats to avoid gridlock, saying that “compromise is part of the legislative process.”
But the Coloradoan added he won’t compromise on fiscal issues, which he said have “just dragged this country down.”
“I am very concerned about our national debt, I am very concern about the sense that our federal government can solve all problems,” Buck said during a taping Friday of C-SPAN’s “Newsmakers” program. “I will not compromise my core values.”
Buck said he would consider raising the debt limit, which the U.S. could bump against in the coming months, as long as “we make substantial progress on balancing the budget.”
“If we do that I will take a serious look at voting to increase the debt limit,” he said.
But he added that the Obama administration and others have over-exaggerated the dire economic consequences of failing to raise the debt ceiling.
“We have a lot of room to cut our spending, and if we do that we will in fact avoid the catastrophic consequences that others talk about,” he said.
To keep government spending and the debt limit in check, Buck said the so-called “Boehner rule,” which calls for any increase in the debt limit to be accompanied by equal or larger reductions in spending, is the “minimum threshold that we have to meet.”
“And real cuts [are a must] — not cuts that happen 10 years from now or 15 years from now where another Congress inevitably will change those cuts,” he said. “We have to have cuts that happen now. And they’re unfortunately going to hurt, but the pain is caused by a history of irresponsible spending in the United States and the Unites States government.”
On immigration, Buck said he hopes the new GOP-controlled Congress will push through legislation to rescind President Obama’s recent executive action to allow almost 5 million illegal immigrants a chance to stay legally in the U.S.
But he said such a move would only be the first step to fixing the nation’s immigration system, saying a comprehensive policy that includes a guest worker program and enhanced border security is essential.
“Once we have fixed the immigration issue, or once we have dealt with the problems that exist today in the law and in the enforcement of the law, then we can start to address what do we do with the folks that either came into this country illegally or have overstayed their visas,” he said.
Buck said that to have a workable immigration system, immigration laws already on the books must be enforced.
“We have to make sure that people coming into this country understand that we do respect the law and we’re going to enforce the law,” he said. “Once we do that, then I think the issue of what do we do with the folks that are here illegally is really much less emotional and we can have a rational discussion on that subject.”
The “Newsmakers” episode will air on C-SPAN at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Eastern time on Sunday.
