Standing on Principle

Washington D.C.—Congressman Tom Marino (PA-10) issued the following statement regarding his opposition to H.R. 2029-Consolidated Appropriations Act or was has been referred to as the “omnibus spending bill”:

“I voted against this bill for many of the same reasons I voted against the budget deal in October. This is a massive spending measure with $50 billion in additional spending. America cannot continue this trend.

I have continuously championed smaller and simpler legislation or what I call ‘single subject bills’ because there are several items within this legislation which I believe to be vital. However, many of these items appear to be carrots dangling from sticks meant to entice Members into voting for a bill that ultimately includes more spending that our constituents oppose. Enough is enough.

On top of more irresponsible spending, this bill does nothing to halt the resettlement of Syrian refugees and omits any measures to curb spending for Planned Parenthood.  In addition, several measures I have championed as Chairman of the Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, including efforts to stop the overreaching regulations like the Clean Power Plan and Waters of the United States (WOTUS), and halt the Justice Department’s practice of funneling forced settlement payments to activist third-party groups, were all excluded.  While there may be several measures within this massive legislation I do agree with, such as the reauthorization of the 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund and the World Trade Center Health Program, the negative aspects of this bill are too egregious to support. Hence, why the many of these more agreeable measures should have been stand-alone bills.

It is my hope that Speaker Ryan will continue to push the House towards regular order so that bills brought before the House can better reflect the priorities of the House Majority and the Americans we represent.”

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