Jeff Bingaman: “I rise today to talk about the damage that would be done if H.R. 1 were to become law, and specifically to talk about a…”

“I rise today to talk about the damage that would be done if H.R. 1 were to become law, and specifically to talk about a few areas I have been paying particular attention to: science and technology, for one, particularly related to energy policy; second, border security and law enforcement; as well as education. To me, this is not a question of whether there should be cuts in our Federal budget. Clearly, there should be cuts. But the real issue here is whether we should be smart about where we make those cuts. To me, it is clear that H.R. 1 does not represent smart policy about where to make those cuts. It represents a plan to mindlessly cut funding during the remaining 5 months of the current fiscal year in order to send some kind of message to the world that we are serious about deficit reduction. In my view, H.R. 1 sends a message, but it is not the right message. The message it sends is that we, in fact, are not willing to look at serious deficit reduction at this point.”