NTU urges all Senators to vote “NO” on themotion to invoke cloture on the Continuing Appropriations Resolution (CR) withSen. Reid’s (D-NV) amendment (#655). This legislation would fund the governmentat levels above those agreed to in the House-passed Budget Resolution as wellas provide $3.65 billion in disaster-related funding that is not offset byreductions in lower-priority items.
Giventhe enormous deficits of recent years there is simply no need for Congress tocompound the misery of natural disasters with a fiscal disaster. Any ContinuingResolution should propose a sensible set of recommendations to scale backwasteful programs in order to compensate for the federal spending increasestriggered by Congress’ response to disasters.
Ratherthan find offsets, Sen. Reid’s amendment would provide the Federal EmergencyManagement Agency with $3.65 billion in debt-financed spending. This fiscallyirresponsible maneuver would negate more than one-half of the $7 billion incuts to current spending levels that were agreed to for fiscal 2012 in thedebt-limit deal. NTU has long argued in favor of budget process reforms that willspeed aid to victims by realistically providing for weather-relatedcontingencies ahead of time. However, if Congress insists on the same patchworkmeasures, they can and should be crafted without adding to the unsustainable deficitspending that threatens America’s fiscal future.
Roll callvotes on the Continuing Appropriations Resolution will be significantlyweighted in our annual Rating of Congress and a “NO” vote will beconsidered the pro-taxpayer position.
If you have any questions, please contact NTU Federal Government Affairs Manager Brandon Greife at(703) 683-5700