Washington, D.C. —
Senator John Thune today voted in support of H.R. 1, legislation passed by the U.S. House of Representatives that would have saved American taxpayers $57 billion this year. Combined with the $4 billion in cuts agreed to last week, these spending reductions would have cut $862 billion over the next 10 years. The spending reduction legislation, which amounted to a six percent reduction in overall federal spending compared to current spending levels, failed by a vote of 44-56.
“The Senate had an opportunity to show the American people that Congress is serious about addressing our nation’s dangerous and ever-growing national debt and deficits by voting for meaningful spending reductions,” said Thune. “Instead, many of my colleagues voted to kick the spending can down the road and continue business as usual. While our country borrows roughly 40 cents of every dollar we spend, Washington continues to mortgage our children’s future. The president, and Congressional Democrats, have failed to show leadership in taking serious steps to reduce our nation’s dangerous spending binge.”
The Senate also voted today on a Democrat alternative which would have only saved $4.7 billion, and that measure failed by a vote of 42-58—with 11 Democrat Senators voting no. As a result of today’s votes, House and Senate leaders will now need to work toward a final deal because federal funding is set to expire at midnight on Friday, March 18th, barring the passage of another short-term Continuing Resolution to keep the federal government operating. Congress is faced with determining funding levels for Fiscal Year 2011, which began over five months ago, because the Democrat-led Congress failed to pass a budget or a single spending bill last year.
Prior to the vote on H.R. 1, Thune spoke on the Senate floor to urge his colleagues to support meaningful spending cuts and support H.R. 1.
“The Senate had an opportunity to show the American people that Congress is serious about addressing our nation’s dangerous and ever-growing national debt and deficits by voting for meaningful spending reductions,” said Thune. “Instead, many of my colleagues voted to kick the spending can down the road and continue business as usual. While our country borrows roughly 40 cents of every dollar we spend, Washington continues to mortgage our children’s future. The president, and Congressional Democrats, have failed to show leadership in taking serious steps to reduce our nation’s dangerous spending binge.”
The Senate also voted today on a Democrat alternative which would have only saved $4.7 billion, and that measure failed by a vote of 42-58—with 11 Democrat Senators voting no. As a result of today’s votes, House and Senate leaders will now need to work toward a final deal because federal funding is set to expire at midnight on Friday, March 18th, barring the passage of another short-term Continuing Resolution to keep the federal government operating. Congress is faced with determining funding levels for Fiscal Year 2011, which began over five months ago, because the Democrat-led Congress failed to pass a budget or a single spending bill last year.
Prior to the vote on H.R. 1, Thune spoke on the Senate floor to urge his colleagues to support meaningful spending cuts and support H.R. 1.
