Congressman Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico's Third District voted early this morning against a House Republican spending proposal that makes drastic cuts to vital services that New Mexicans rely on and would destroy nearly one million American jobs.
Luján highlighted his opposition to deep cuts to the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program that helps working families, senior citizens and disabled individuals heat their homes. He also expressed concern with cuts to education, including the Head Start program for early education, funding for low-income school districts, and Pell Grants for college. In addition, the Continuing Resolution, which funds the government for the remainder of fiscal year 2011, cuts funding for New Mexico's national labs and their innovative work.
"This short-sighted spending bill makes drastic cuts that threaten to derail our economic recovery and put more people out of work," Congressman Luján said. "Gutting funding that helps our most vulnerable citizens heat their homes as New Mexicans deal with the aftermath of gas outages that left them without heat is completely unacceptable. Families should never have to make a choice between heating their homes and purchasing basic necessities. Investing in education and innovation should be a key priority and the cornerstone to an economic recovery. Unfortunately, House Republicans cut all levels of education and make arbitrary cuts to New Mexico's national labs that threaten American competitiveness and our ability to create new jobs here at home."
Source: http://lujan.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=770&Itemid=119
