WASHINGTON – Congresswoman Lynn Jenkins issued the following statement after the first vote on the House floor in the YouCut project. The cut that received the most votes was a $2.5 billion emergency welfare fund that was included in the Democrat’s $787 billion so-called stimulus.
 
“The American people are fed up with the culture of spending and borrowing in Washington. In less than one week, more than 280,000 Americans voted in the YouCut project, and more than 81,000 of them voted to cut $2.5 billion from a duplicative and unnecessary welfare fund. Our job in Congress is to listen to the folks who sent us here, and today I did just that.
 
“There is no doubt we all have the responsibility to help folks in need, but the program I voted to cut today was fraught with abuse and promotes welfare dependence by undercutting the bipartisan welfare reforms from 1996 that have saved taxpayers billions of dollars. In a time of unprecedented debt, recent reports indicate the program has resulted in taxpayer funds being used to purchase flat screen TVs, iPods and video gaming systems.
 
“As a nation, we are at a critical crossroads, and the bad habit of spend today and borrow from tomorrow is crippling us. The spending cut we offered on the floor today and the entire YouCut project are not a silver bullet to fix all of our nation’s fiscal problems, but we have to start somewhere. Unfortunately, the majority in Congress was not willing to listen and do what was best for the long-term fiscal health of our nation.”