In the News

Neither of the Mountain Empire’s two congressmen was thrilled with a last-minute compromise that allowed President Barack Obama to raise the debt ceiling late Tuesday afternoon and keep the country from going into default on its obligations.

But only one of them, U.S. Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-9th, carried his problems with the Budget Control Act of 2011 all the way to the end and voted against the plan when it came up for a vote in the House Monday night.

“After thoroughly reviewing the legislation and hearing from constituents, I came to the conclusion that I should not vote for this bill,” the Southwest Virginia congressman said in a statement explaining his position on the compromise.

The plan, which allows the president to raise the debt ceiling by a little more than $2 trillion over the next two years while cutting spending by an equal amount, cleared the House in a 269-161 vote. It passed the Senate by a 74-26 vote Tuesday afternoon and the president signed it into law a short time later.

 Griffith was one of 66 House Republicans who rejected the proposal, with the rest of the no votes coming from House Democrats. U.S. Rep. Phil Roe, R-1st, and the region’s four senators supported it.

“While I would have preferred larger spending cuts, this bill immediately cuts spending by $917 billion and does not raise taxes,” Roe, who represents Northeast Tennessee, explained in his own statement. “This bill also guarantees at least $1.2 trillion in additional savings and advances the cause of a balanced budget amendment.”

 But while the proposal “advances the cause of a balanced budget amendment,” to the Constitution by requiring both houses of Congress to vote on the proposal before a second debt ceiling increase goes through, it does not require that Congress approve the measure and send it to the states for ratification.

In his statement, Griffith said that was ultimately why he voted against the debt ceiling compromise.

The Southwest Virginia congressman said he supported an earlier proposal sponsored by House Speaker John Boehner that would have tied a second raise in the debt ceiling to the successful passage of a balanced budget amendment, “however, the legislation [that came before us on Monday] was not quite as good.”