Kennedy on rescissions: “It's gut-check time. We need to pass this bill.”

Watch Kennedy's comments here.

WASHINGTON - Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) today delivered the following remarks on the U.S. Senate floor:

"We've got a $7 trillion budget. I don't know how much of that $7 trillion is waste, but every fair-minded person would have to agree that there's some money being spent in that $7 trillion that shouldn't be spent. It just shouldn't. It's wasted money.

"So, President Trump and this Congress made one of its objectives trying to reduce spending. Not spending that we need but spending that needs to be reduced. I call it spending porn.

"The president has sent us a bill. He's saying to Congress, I want you to reduce spending in the current budget by [$9.4 billion]. Let me tell you what constitutes the spending I want to reduce.

"First, [$9.4 billion] out of a $7 trillion budget, we're not talking about a lot of money here. We're talking about one-tenth of 1%. That's all. That's point one.

"Point two: You need to look at what the president is asking us to cut out. I'll just give you a couple of examples. I didn't make this up.

"The president is saying we're giving $3 million to Iraq to produce 'Sesame Street.' Maybe we could use that money for something else.

"The president is saying we're giving $3 million to Zambia for circumcisions and vasectomies. The president is saying we don't need to do that. We've got other priorities.

"We're giving $500,000 to Rwanda to buy electric buses. The president is saying to us, Congress we don't need to be spending money on that. There are more important things.

"We're spending $67,000 to give insect powder to kids in Madagascar. I don't even know what insect powder is, but the president is asking us to cut it out.

"We're giving $3,600,000 to Haiti for pastry cooking classes, for cyber cafes, for dance focus groups for male prostitutes. The president is saying I don't think so. I don't think the American people support giving their hard-earned money to male prostitutes in Haiti. So, he's asking us to cut it out.

"He's asking us to reduce the budget by $833,000 because some of President Biden's bureaucrats gave a contract to [assist] transgender people, sex workers, and their clients in Nepal. The president is saying I don't want to do that and he's right. You get the idea.

"That's what I call spending porn. It triggers our gag reflex. You look at this stuff and you go, 'What in God's name? Who decided to do this?' Well, Congress didn't. The bureaucrats did. It's money we appropriated, but we didn't tell them to go spend money, $833,000, and give to sex workers in Nepal. They just took the money we appropriated and used it for that. So, the president is asking us to do what's called a rescission and cancel the spending.

"Now, I've been here eight years, Mr. President, and I've listened to a whole bunch of people talk about the need to reduce spending. But you've got to watch what people do, not what they say because talk is cheap.

"And around here, I've learned pretty quickly that reducing spending, it's like going to heaven. I want to go to heaven. I bet you want to go to heaven, Mr. President. I bet our guests in the gallery want to go to heaven, but everybody wants to heaven. Raise your hand if you're ready to take the trip today. Most people-you are, sir, and I admire that-but most people want to live a little longer, and that's the way we are with reducing spending around here.

"'I want to reduce spending. I support it but not just yet because I've got this project.' And I've listened to that, and I especially listened to it for the past hundred days. 'Go get them, President Trump. Reduce that spending. We're behind you a thousand percent.'

"Well, he has. One-tenth of 1% he's asking us to reduce. And I'm not saying senators shouldn't ask questions and make some changes if they need to be made, but here's the bottom line: It is gut-check time. You either believe in reducing spending or you don't. And if you talk the game and say, 'Let's reduce spending,' and you vote against this bill, in my opinion, you ought to hide your head in a bag because you will be able to cut the hypocrisy with a knife.

"It's real, real hard, Mr. President, to preach temperance from a barstool. It's gut-check time. We need to pass this bill."

Watch Kennedy's speech here.