Senator Rand Paul to Cut $500 Billion in Spending Bill

After a tough and hard-fought campaign from primary battles to the general election, the Tea Party’s efforts paid off on Wednesday, January 5, 2011, with the official swearing-in ceremony of 12-term Representative Ron Paul (R-Texas) and his son and political newcomer Rand Paul (R-Ky.) in the U.S. Senate.

Although in the past both Senators Barry Goldwater (R-Ariz.) and Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) served in the Senate at the same time as their respective sons, Barry Goldwater, Jr. (R-Calif.) and Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.), served in the House, Ron and Rand Paul made history by being the first time a father serves in the House at the same time that the son serves in the Senate.

In the company of his father, brothers, sisters, wife, and children, Rand Paul was sworn as a U.S. Senator by Vice President Joe Biden, who cordially embraced the new Senator and his family.

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Vice President Biden shook hands with the Paul family, then leaned over to Sen. Paul’s youngest son, William, to tell him a story about Henry Clay, who was also a U.S. Senator from Kentucky.

Following the story, Biden re-administered the Senatorial oath of office to Rand for the media press cameras. Biden then expressed his sincere admiration of Rand Paul, telling him: “I admire you; you mean what you say, I admire you.”

Prior to Rand Paul’s inauguration, he delivered a brief inaugural statement, seen on YouTube:

Today, I will be sworn in as the next United States Senator from Kentucky.

I am humbled by the honor bestowed upon me by the people of Kentucky this fall, choosing me to represent them in Washington. As this session begins today, my goal is to keep my promises to the people of Kentucky. Their voices were heard loud and clear in November.

They wanted to send a message to Washington: stop. Stop the out-of-control expansion of government power. Stop the spending.

They want balanced budgets and spending restraint. They want us here to deal with our fiscal issues the way most Americans do — by setting priorities and spending only what we can afford.

People also are demanding reform. That’s why among the first bills I introduce in Congress will be bills to balance the budget, to cut federal spending, and to force members to read the bills.

I will fight to end costly regulations to help job creation. And I will propose and fight for term limits. Already our incoming members are having an impact.

Republicans in the Senate have pledged to end earmarks and fight for a Balanced-budget Amendment to the Constitution. Those would not have happened if not for the actions of grass-roots activists and fed up voters.

There is much to be done, and I intend to start right away.

In January alone I will introduce a one-year, $500 billion spending cut, along with a balanced-budget amendment. I will attach spending cuts and fiscal restraint bills like these to any and all major pieces of legislation.

Americans have demanded real change, and real action. Many of us who were just elected this fall have heard their voices, and will take immediate action in Washington.

I’ll be doing weekly updates from Washington, because I want you to know what’s going on. I hope you’ll check back in with us each week and help keep the pressure on Congress to act.

In an ABC News interview, George Stephanopoulos asked both Pauls, father and son, for their opinions about some congressional Republicans who have already admitted to scaling back on the part of the Republican Party’s “Pledge to America,” which reads: “We will roll back government spending to pre-stimulus, pre-bailout levels, saving at least $100 billion in the first year alone.”

Rand Paul responded:

Well, our goals is a little more ambitious; we have a bill that we’re working on that will be $500 billion. You know, $500 billion is not even scratching the surface; the debt problem is enormous.

If successful in cutting $500 billion in spending as well as reining in the Federal Reserve, Sen. Rand Paul could go from 20/20 vision ophthalmologist to the year 2020 presidential candidate. But for the time being, Rand Paul’s inauguration as a U.S. Senator is a victory for liberty, promoting the constitutional restraint that is long overdue in Washington. It is to be hoped that Vice President Biden will be proven right in his praise for Sen. Paul and that Paul’s deeds continue to match his words.