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Bass Statement on House Passage of Reconciliation Measure |
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Untitled document
May 10, 2012
WASHINGTON – Congressman Charles F. Bass (NH-02) issued the following statement this afternoon after the House of Representatives passed a budget reconciliation measure that would provide mandatory spending reductions of $78 billion in order to replace the automatic cuts to defense discretionary spending as outlined under the Budget Control Act.
Bass said:
"At the end of the year, our nation faces a fiscal cliff that we cannot ignore and that we must address in a serious manner, with the goal of coming to a bipartisan agreement. Failure to move beyond political posturing will result in taxes being raised on every single working American and, as a result of the Supercommittee's inability to produce a compromise solution to our nation's fiscal problem, the arbitrary sequestration process that will harm our national defense capabilities.
"However, I did not believe that this reconciliation package, nor the alternative offered by the Democrats, represented the balanced approach we need to address this problem. While there were provisions in the House reconciliation bill that I support, the package as a whole is not the solution that will get to the President's desk.
"Budgets need to be tough, but they also need to be fair. When attempts are made to address agricultural spending by eliminating fraud in the food stamp program but do not even begin to address the billions of dollars in direct subsidies to factory farms – that is not right.
"The reason I supported and continue to push for the bipartisan budget framework based on Simpson-Bowles is that it finds common ground by reducing spending, eliminating all of the automatic cuts, including defense, and increasing revenue through comprehensive tax reform that would lower rates across the board but widen the taxpayer base by getting rid of unfair loopholes.
"I believe that is the kind of plan we will end up passing before the end of the year and it is the type of plan we should be working on now in a bipartisan fashion."
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