Congress recently passed legislation to reopen the government and avert a default on debt held by the United States. The bipartisan agreement allows us to move past this crisis and to begin looking ahead. Although this proposal is not perfect, it does contain a key provision to address one of the biggest challenges of our time: unsustainable debt.  The plan sets the stage for a long overdue budget conference between the House and Senate to address this serious issue.

Today, the debt stands at nearly $17 trillion. A lack of leadership from the White House, years without a budget, countless mandates, and expanded government programs have gotten us to this point.

Solving Today’s Problems Requires an Understanding of the Past

As a member of the Senate Budget Committee, I have fought for serious and lasting budget reform. In fact, we are making progress.

For the first time in 50 years, discretionary spending – the funding which must be appropriated by Congress each year – has declined for two years in a row. These budget savings were first established by the “Budget Control Act” in 2011, and Republicans successfully fought for and secured their continuation in the government funding plan passed on October 16. We must not stop there.

This week’s legislation rejected Democrats’ demands to increase spending. However, that by itself will not be enough to reduce our fast-growing national debt. Mandatory spending is growing out of control. So-called entitlement spending is made up of programs on automatic pilot.  This is the primary reason the government has repeatedly exceeded its borrowing limit.

The United States faces more than $90 trillion in unfunded liabilities on important programs such as Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. At a time when the federal government in Washington is borrowing more than 20 cents for every dollar it spends, solutions must be put in place without further delay.

Long-term entitlement costs are rising sharply, swelling projected deficits and the debt.  The threat posed by these liabilities imperils the creditworthiness of the United States, because it is these unrestrained costs that could one day cause the U.S. to default on its staggering debt.

Our Moment to Lead

I have been named a conferee to the budget conference between the House and Senate – the first such process in four years. I look forward to using this opportunity to right America’s financial future from a path destined for debt and uncertainty to a path toward security and prosperity.

When Barack Obama became president in January 2009, the total federal debt stood at $10.6 trillion. According to a report by FactCheck.org, a nonprofit organization at the University of Pennsylvania, the debt held by the public – not including Social Security and Medicare – has risen 89.3 percent since Obama took office. The report continues, “At (this) rate, the debt owed to the public will more than double during the Obama presidency.”

I am hopeful that Republicans and Democrats will negotiate in good faith to slow the growth rate of our automatic spending programs and deliver a budget that reduces federal debt without raising taxes on hard-working families. Without sensible action, the burden of crushing debt risks squandering the prosperity of the next generation of Americans.