John Kerry: “every day, the working families of Massachusetts have to make tough choices about what they can afford, how to pay the…”

“every day, the working families of Massachusetts have to make tough choices about what they can afford, how to pay the rent, or whether they can send their kids to college. The Federal budget deficit, while reduced considerably due to President Clinton s leadership and the courage of the Democratic- controlled Congress in 1993, is still over $100 billion a year. We absolutely must get a grip and bring the Federal Government's expenditures within its means. Like families in Massachusetts, I have been working in the U.S. Senate to make the tough choices concerning our Federal budget. In 1994, I successfully led the fight to eliminate funding for the dangerous advanced liquid metal reactor. Last year, I stood with Senators McCain, Feingold, and Thompson in an effort to cut $60 billion in corporate welfare programs to get rid of wasteful Federal spending and reduce the deficit. Today, I am proud to continue that fight as a cosponsor of Senator McCain's legislation to cut one of the biggest examples of corporate pork, the Advanced Light Water Reactor Program. This program has already spent over $200 million of taxpayer money to improve the designs of nuclear power plants that nobody in this country wants. There is no demand for more nuclear power plants in the United States. No utility has bought a nuclear power plant since Richard Nixon was President. This program is the definition of corporate pork.”