Ed Markey: “I support the Murray-Ryan budget agreement, even though I disagree with a number of provisions included in the bill…”

“I support the Murray-Ryan budget agreement, even though I disagree with a number of provisions included in the bill, because it includes balanced savings to roll back sequestration for the next 2 years and help restore much needed certainty to government agencies and our economy. Sequestration is just a fancy word for cuts--mindless cuts. I strongly believe we must end the mindless, across the board cuts from sequestration which have significantly reduced funding for a number of Federal programs that are critical to Massachusetts families and businesses. Sequestration has also significantly cut Federal spending on the research which has been critical for the development of the Massachusetts economy and will damage our economy in the long-term. Under the Murray-Ryan agreement, sequestration under the Budget Control Act would continue. However, the size of sequestration will be rolled back and the Appropriations Committee will have the authority to make changes to existing spending rather than be required to impose an across the board cut. The agreement would set overall discretionary spending for this year at $1.012 trillion--which is about $46 billion less than the Senate budget level and $45 billion above the level set in the Budget Control Act. Spending would increase only slightly next year.…”