Political Quotes

“I rise today to commend this bill to our colleagues and urge that it be passed. It includes $27.5 billion in Federal spending. That's a reduction of $2.1 billion below last year, $3.8 billion below the President's request. Some have complained that these cuts are too much, too fast. But it's important to remember that these agencies and programs have seen unprecedented massive increases in spending in recent years. This sort of excess has contributed to our astronomical debt and is threatening our recovery. We simply can't fund unnecessary and ineffective programs when we are borrowing 42 cents on every dollar we spend. We just simply can't afford it. This legislation makes smart, significant cuts across each and every agency funded by this bill. The bill still adequately funds the agencies that are important to the health of our citizens, the stability of our economy, and the preservation of our environment, but we've made some priority adjustments in areas that can and should withstand lower budgets. Some areas that will see bigger reductions include climate change programs, which are trimmed 22 percent from last year, and land acquisition funding, which is at a level nearly 79 percent lower than last year. Frankly, many of the cuts in this bill are just plain common sense, particularly when it comes to the Environmental Protection Agency.…”