Ruppersberger Issues Statement on "Government Shutdown Prevention Act of 2011"
Statement
Congressman C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD) today released the following statement on the "Government Shutdown Prevention Act of 2011."
Today, I supported common-sense legislation to withhold pay from Members of Congress and the President in the event of a government shutdown. I agree that elected officials should not receive their taxpayer-funded paycheck if public services are not up and running. This legislation, which passed unanimously in the Senate on March 11, could have gone to the President for his signature had House Republicans supported it today.
I did not support separate legislation known as the "Shutdown Prevention Act of 2011." This disingenuously named bill has nothing to do with preventing a government shutdown. It is clearly an unconstitutional measure that would shut the U.S. Senate out of the budget process and undermine the democratic principles established by our forefathers. This measure is a desperate second attempt to pass H.R. 1, which would eliminate nearly 800,000 jobs and slash appropriate investments in job-rich initiatives.
H.R. 1 cuts critical assistance to state and local law enforcement. It cuts billions in port and transit security, which harms the Port of Baltimore and BWI Airport. It cuts Chesapeake Bay clean-up funding by 20 percent, jeopardizing thousands of jobs dependent on a healthy Bay. It reduces border security funding and eliminates a program for homeless veterans. The bill will drastically reduce recipients of Pell Grants, which enable thousands of Marylanders to afford college, would kick more than 2,300 Maryland children out of the Head Start education program and mean a loss of 521 teaching jobs. It also jeopardizes key investments in rebuilding aging infrastructure, costing Maryland more than 3,000 jobs.
The budget discussion is not about whether or not to cut -- it's about what to cut. We must identify what is working and get rid of what is not. I am urging House and Senate leaders to reach a compromise and avoid a government shutdown. We must reduce government spending but protect appropriate investments to restore American prosperity.
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