FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, April 13, 2011 

CONTACT: Clark Pettig
Office: (202) 225-5802

Rep. Gary Peters Statement on President’s Deficit Proposal

Peters is Chair of House Spending Cuts & Deficit Reduction Working Group

Washington, DC – Representative Gary Peters, the Chairman of the House Spending Cuts and Deficit Reduction Working Group, today applauded the President’s commitment to deficit reduction and called for bipartisan action to restore fiscal responsibility.

“Washington needs to get serious about deficit reduction, and I’m glad that both parties are finally talking about real proposals to get our fiscal house in order. Families, businesses and states are making tough choices to make ends meet, and it’s time for the federal government to do the same,” said Rep. Gary Peters. “For over a year, I’ve been calling for both parties to work together to enact a comprehensive deficit reduction plan that controls spending, protects our most vulnerable citizens, and begins paying down our debt.”

In his first term, Peters was one of only 19 Democrats to vote for a discretionary spending freeze, he supported Pay-As-You-Go legislation, and he voted against Democratic budget proposals that did not contain comprehensive deficit reduction measures. As the Chairman of the Spending Cuts and Deficit Reduction Working Group, Peters led House Democrats to introduce over $72 billion in deficit reduction measures in the 111th Congress.

This year, Peters has already led bipartisan efforts this year to cut unnecessary government spending. Peters teamed up with Republican Rep. Cory Gardner from Colorado to introduce two measures aimed at cutting unnecessary government programs – and Peters’ first legislative initiative of the year, an amendment to ensure that program savings are used for deficit reduction, passed with bipartisan support.

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