Washington – Business Roundtable Executive Director Larry Burton offered the following remarks on the proposal put forward yesterday by National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform Co-Chairs Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson:

“The debt crisis our country faces is real and needs to be addressed. We are on an unsustainable path and will lose our national competitiveness in an increasingly interconnected global economy if it is not addressed. Solutions will not be easy; they will require serious thought and open minds on both spending and revenue issues. With debt rising faster than the economy, we cannot wait to take on these challenges years down the road. We must address them now.

“The proposals offered by Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles have opened this critically important discussion and have provided a helpful starting point for developing a national consensus on how to put the U.S. economy on a more sound fiscal foundation. With respect to taxes, we need to make sure that the details of any tax reform ultimately advanced by the Commission provide a competitive tax system for the United States – on a level playing field with the rest of world – to promote jobs and long-term growth.

“We are reviewing their proposals and look forward to reviewing the Commission's final plan, as well as other ideas. We are committed to helping find a way forward that will solve this critical problem and promote U.S. economic growth and new job creation.”