John Kerry: “today I am introducing the Veto Wasteful Spending and Protect Taxpayers Act of 2010 which establishes a constitutional…”

“today I am introducing the Veto Wasteful Spending and Protect Taxpayers Act of 2010 which establishes a constitutional line-item veto by creating an expedited rescissions process. Yesterday, the Obama administration unveiled the Reduce Unnecessary Spending Act of 2010. This legislation is very similar to my proposal which I first introduced in 2006. They both provide for an expedited rescission process. The line-item veto is not a panacea for record level deficits, but it will provide the President with the necessary tool to reduce wasteful spending. Both bills will give the President the ability to target projects that have been added in spending bills that benefit special interests or are not necessary. I applaud President Obama for addressing this issue. I have been a long-time advocate of the line-item veto. It has been a successful tool at the state level and I think it can effectively reduce spending on the Federal level. We have made progress with earmark reform and I think expedited rescission would result in further spending reductions.”