Congressman Spencer Bachus (AL-6) issued the following statement on the "fiscal cliff" legislation vote held on January 1, 2013.
"It is understandable why many people have been frustrated with this process. The "fiscal cliff' did need to be addressed to avoid a massive tax increase on low and middle income Americans. But my personal view is that the legislation could have been much improved with the addition of spending cuts. The House, in fact, had already identified more than $200 billion in immediate potential savings. Unfortunately, the legislation sent to the House by the Senate actually increased the debt by $4 trillion. We cannot afford to keep adding to a huge debt that is already a threat to both our economic prosperity and national security, and without greater balance I could not vote for the legislation."