Dallas Republican Jeb Hensarling was elected to Congress from Texas' 5th district in 2002. Since then, the 48-year-old has made his mark as an unapologetic champion of restrained federal spending. He's been an outspoken member of the budget-battling Republican Study Committee, which fought unsuccessfully to have one of its own elected majority leader after Tom DeLay gave up the post. The congressman exchanged e-mails recently with editorial columnist William McKenzie. Here's an excerpt of their back-and-forth:

Question: You've championed deficit reduction. But you and other House Republicans have shied away from "pay-as-you-go" rules that require legislators to offset spending hikes or tax cuts with reductions in spending elsewhere. How come? Alan Greenspan advocates "pay-go" rules, which helped Congress balance the budget in the 1990s.

Answer: The deficit concerns me greatly, but the deficit is only a symptom. Spending is the real disease. In the last 10 years, the federal budget has grown 50 percent faster than the family budget and at twice the rate of inflation. Often, taxpayers' money is spent unwisely on items like "bridges to nowhere."

Most Americans don't realize that approximately 60 percent of federal spending is on automatic pilot and growing exponentially. I would support "pay-as-you-go" rules if we level the playing field between spending and tax relief by designating all spending as "discretionary" and eliminating the practice of automatically increasing the budget baseline each year.

Without spending reform, the Government Accountability Office has stated we will have to raise taxes 250 percent on the next generation to balance the budget. This is unconscionable.

That is why former Fed Chairman Greenspan recognizes spending caps are far more preferable than pay-go rules to achieve fiscal discipline. With spending caps, we can force Congress to make tough decisions on what truly constitutes a priority.

Question: The U.S. obviously will keep troops in Iraq and Afghanistan for a while. Have you or other House Republicans thought about a dedicated way to finance them, like selling war bonds?

Answer: Congress can and should find ways to pay for the war by spending less elsewhere. Families have to prioritize their spending every day – why not the federal government? War bonds still represent public debt, and taxpayers would one day redeem them with interest.

Question: If Congress goes silent on lobby-reform bills, will the silence hurt the GOP reelection strategy come November?

Answer: Americans don't want business-as-usual. They want us to stop the federal government from wasting their money on pet projects like the $600 million "bridges to nowhere" in Alaska.

Back in 1994, Republicans captured the majority in Congress on a national referendum for limited government and a balanced budget. Republicans can hold the majority as long as we remember what got us here.

We need reform. The problem is not powerful lobbyists, as much as powerful members of Congress. When one congressman can "earmark" money to a specific individual or business, there is clearly need for reform. When Congress can decide the price of milk or which Indian tribes can build casinos, there is a need for reform.

Question: Speaking of elections, which of the president's top domestic priorities is Congress likely to pass before campaigns take over: the rewriting of immigration laws, adding more math and science teachers or expanding the use of health savings accounts?

Answer: Border security is homeland security, and we simply cannot afford to ignore who is coming across our borders. People in Washington are now realizing that. This leads me to believe some form of illegal immigration and border security legislation will pass and be signed into law this year.

Question: GOP Sen. John Cornyn wrote in The Dallas Morning News last month that it makes no sense for Congress to postpone passing a guest worker program that allows foreign workers, including illegal immigrants, to earn three-year work visas. The longer we wait, he said, the more difficult it becomes for agents to focus on the real threat: terrorists, not migrant workers. Do you agree?

Answer: Along with deploying modern, high-tech equipment and a huge increase in our Border Patrol, a properly designed guest worker program is undoubtedly part of the solution. We need to provide incentives for immigrants to walk through the front door of the United States in the light of day so we can separate them from others who are attempting to sneak through the back door in the dark of night.

Otherwise, no amount of manpower and equipment will stop desperate people from crossing our border to feed their families. That's why I support a temporary guest worker program that allows law-abiding and self-sustaining immigrants to add to the economy and return home without granting them amnesty or U.S. citizenship.

Question: What part of serving in Congress has surprised you most?

Answer: Notwithstanding its numerous faults and limitations, the institutions of Congress work pretty well.