Welch Votes No on FY2011 Spending Bill

Statement

Rep. Peter Welch issued the following statement Thursday after the House passed the Fiscal Year 2011 Continuing Resolution (H.R. 1473) by a vote of 260 to 167. The funding bill is the result of a compromise reached late last week between President Obama and Congressional leaders. Welch opposed the measure.

"This legislation is fatally flawed. It focuses 100 percent of the cuts on 12 percent of the budget. By definition, that approach to deficit reduction simply won't work. If we are going to get our fiscal house in order, everything must be on the table. This bill slashes low income heating assistance, high speed rail, community health centers and the WIC program while the Pentagon budget is not only spared, it is increased. And oil companies earning record profits will continue to get tax breaks. We can get from here to there, but we can only do so if we turn over every stone in the federal budget. Failure to do so imposes a disproportionate share of the burden on those who can least afford it."

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