WASHINGTON – Congresswoman Renee Ellmers released the following statement from her office in Washington this afternoon:

"As I've said from the beginning, Washington is not the solution, Washington is the problem. America's strength is our free market economy. My job here in Washington is to restore trust and remove the uncertainty that is keeping our small business owners from creating jobs. The plan presented by Speaker Boehner has the essential elements to do just that. One of the real strengths of this plan is that the caps are real and the cuts are immediate. We are in this situation due to decades of spending problems, not revenue."

"The President is not serious about controlling spending and the numbers speak for themselves. Under the President's watch, $3.7 Trillion has been added to the national debt - that's $3.7 Trillion in two and a half years. Because of President Obama's failed policies and focus on growing the government, we have more people out of work and struggling to feed their families. But in the House, we have a plan and it holds true to the principles of Cut, Cap and Balance."

"We are now over two years into Obama's presidency and the unemployment rate has increased to 9.2 percent. We need to help the private sector create jobs and get our economy moving again so that more people are not left to face the poverty that this recession has caused. Small businesses and entrepreneurs drive our economy and our focus needs to be on helping to create an environment for them to prosper, not protecting government programs. That is why I call on my colleagues in the House, Senate Leadership, and the President to work with us to save our economy and quickly allow this plan to be enacted."

# # #

For more information, please visit Congresswoman Ellmers’ website at www.ellmers.house.gov or call (202) 225-4531.

Follow us on Facebook and on Twitter @RepReneeEllmers

Tom Doheny

Press Secretary

Congresswoman Renee Ellmers R-NC-2

Washington, DC