Barbara Mikulski: “this is the toughest VA/HUD bill we have ever faced. In putting this bill together, we were told by the Republican…”

“this is the toughest VA/HUD bill we have ever faced. In putting this bill together, we were told by the Republican leadership that we had to do two things. First, we had to fund veterans medical care $1.2 billion above the President's budget request. Second, we had to fund NASA at the President's budget request of $16.2 billion. In addition, we had to provide enough money to renew Section 8 housing vouchers. Even though this was not a priority for the President, it was a priority for us. I agree with these priorities. I have fought for these priorities. But in order to fund these priorities, we had to cut $3 billion from other programs. This is a shell game. The Republican leadership gave us an allocation for conference that is $3 billion less than we had for our Senate bill. With the exception of VA medical care, Section 8 and NASA, we had to cut all other programs an average of 4 percent below last year. For the first time in history, we had to cut essential programs to pay for these priorities. These are real cuts to programs that help people and communities. This is the illusion of being compassionate. We were forced to do this because of the budget caps that we are forced to live under by the Republican leadership. These spending caps put a stranglehold on essential programs. The Republican leadership created this situation and unfortunately, the American people will pay the price. Our No. 1 priority has always been our veterans.…”