WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Sam Brownback today applauded lower deficit spending figures released by the Congressional Budget Office, saying that lower taxes are stimulating the economy and increasing federal revenues.

“The tax cuts are working and we are growing the economy,” said Brownback. “Lower taxes spur economic growth, which means more jobs, healthier businesses, and a better fiscal outlook for all Americans. The economy is strong, jobless numbers are down, but we have more work to do. We should continue to grow our economy and reduce the deficit and I urge my colleagues in Congress to make the recent tax cuts permanent, especially the death tax which overly hurts small businesses and family farms.”

The CBO issued new figures on Friday pegging the fiscal year 2006 spending deficit at $250 billion, a drop of $68 billion from the 2005 fiscal year spending deficit of $318 billion and $10 billion less than projected. The CBO cited increased corporate tax revenues for lowering the deficit.

Brownback continued, “President Bush and the Republican Congress are helping lower the deficit by embracing pro-growth and pro-job tax policies that help American taxpayers and businesses, instead of punishing them with higher taxes that create disincentives to economic growth. Lower taxes increase government revenues by stimulating economic activity, which increases tax receipts. Ironically, Democratic policies of raising taxes would not only hurt the economy but could decrease government revenues and dramatically increase our deficits.”

Senator Brownback is a member of the Joint Economic Committee, the Appropriations Committee, and the Judiciary Committee.