María Elvira Salazar: “I voice my opposition to the reconciliation bill before the Senate today. America can and should do better. This bill…”

“I voice my opposition to the reconciliation bill before the Senate today. America can and should do better. This bill, which masquerades as a vehicle to help shrink the deficit, is actually a part of a broader, fiscally irresponsible package of policy and legislation that will actually increase the size of the deficit by over $30 billion in the next 5 years, even as this bill cuts programs that are important to the most vulnerable Americans. In other words, this series of proposals moves America in exactly the wrong direction. This bill moves in the wrong direction when it comes to agriculture. Agriculture program spending amounts to about 1 percent of the spending in the Federal budget, however, at a time when fuel prices are at a record high and many rural areas in Colorado across the country continue to feel the effects of weather-related natural disasters, agriculture programs have been forced to take $3 billion worth of cuts. These cuts will come out of the programs that farmers, ranchers and rural communities count on most, including commodity program payments and conservation programs like the Conservation Reserve Program, CRP. During my time in the Senate I have spoken many times about my concern that too often Washington leaves our rural communities to wither on the vine. I believe that this budget reconciliation package only contributes to their decline. This bill moves in the wrong direction when it comes to health care and education.…”