Washington, DC--Congressman Eliot Engel (D-NY-17) criticized House Republicans for trying to weasel out of legislation to cut funds for military and social programs, called a sequestration agreement. The cuts were agreed to as part of the Budget Control Act of 2011, to reduce the deficit and designed to be a harsh alternative should the bipartisan SuperCommittee fail to develop a plan to reduce the deficit.  Today, Republicans voted to eliminate defense spending portions of the spending cuts, but leave in place domestic cuts.

“I said from the moment the Budget Control Act was proposed that it was going to fail.   I voted against it because Congress must make these tough budgetary decisions; not the President, not any ‘SuperCommittee.’  Now the Republicans want to move the goalposts, and only on one end of the field. The Republican Majority took this vote only for political reasons. If they had their way, all of the budget cuts would be on the backs of the working families and low-income families.  They must stop the posturing and begin good faith negotiations to develop a grand deal and do what’s right for our economy and those Americans still out of work.

“Congress must do its job and pass a realistic deficit plan, not pass the buck.  I urge my Republican colleagues to govern with Democrats and stop passing bills which are only good for campaign mailers and sound bytes.”

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