House Republicans Cut $10 Billion; More Cuts to Come

Statement

Dear Friend,

Last week, the House passed a three-week Continuing Resolution (CR) which guarantees that the government will continue to operate until April 8th. House Republicans secured a responsible alternative to shutting down the government that included an additional $6 billion in spending cuts, bringing our total to $10 billion in just five weeks. These cuts are a good start to reducing wasteful spending and inefficiencies in our government and they will help create private sector job growth.

Many of you have asked, "What is a CR and why are we doing this?" Last year, for the first time in modern history, the President, the House and the Senate (all of which the Democrats controlled) chose not to pass a Federal budget for the current fiscal year. A CR funds the government at current spending levels (including the deficit spending) until a budget can be passed.

In November 2010, the American people sent a loud and clear message that Congress needs to get their fiscal House in order. I assure you, House Republicans are listening. The cuts included in the CR put us on our way to achieving our goal of cutting at least $100 billion and we will continue to take advantage of more opportunities to cut unnecessary spending.

Like you, my patience is wearing thin with the deficit spending, the lack of leadership from the President and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and their refusal to confront the fiscal reality that they helped create. It is unfortunate that we have to spend valuable time negotiating the CR in the first place. Last year House and Senate Democrats should have passed a budget for FY 2011. Instead, they took a pass on this important responsibility and are now preventing the Congress from resolving the CR.

Nevertheless, we have and will continue to approach this process in a manner consistent with our pledge to the American people. I am absolutely committed to cutting spending and doing so through an open and transparent process. The CR is just the first of many difficult battles that we will take on this Congress. House Republicans will continue to make the tough choices today in order to secure a prosperous future for our children and grandchildren.

In the coming weeks and months, I will continue to work through the tough issues and make bold votes to reduce Federal spending on your behalf. My Republican colleagues and I will unveil a budget within the next few weeks that will fill the leadership void left by the President and take on the runaway spending that is driving our job-killing debt burden. The Speaker of the House has also indicated that we will utilize this year's budget process to make more robust spending cuts and permanently repeal burdensome programs like Obamacare. I look forward to working with my colleagues during that process and hope that Senator Reid and President Obama will accept the responsibility to work with us to reduce our deficit and balance our budget.

Please stay in touch with me via www.facebook.com/RepAustinScott. Also, to stay up-to-date on the latest from Washington and the 8th District, sign up for my e-mail updates at http://austinscott.house.gov/contact-me/newsletter.

Sincerely,

Austin Scott
Member of Congress

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