Representative Kelly Votes to Pass the Largest Real Dollar Spending Cut in American History, Fund Government through Fiscal Year 2011

Press Release

U.S. Representative Mike Kelly (PA-03) voted today to pass H.R. 1473, a measure that funds the government for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2011 and amounts to the largest non-defense spending cut in our nation's history. H.R. 1473 cuts spending in the first year by nearly $40 billion, creating a budget baseline that will cut $315 billion out of the federal budget over the next ten years. Compared to the 2011 budget requested by President Obama, H.R. 1473 represents a savings of $78.5 billion, which is substantially more than the President's proposed spending "freeze" and is almost two-thirds of what the House Republicans proposed to cut in H.R. 1.

In addition to representing the largest year-to-year spending cut since World War II, today's bill eliminates a controversial program within ObamaCare and cuts another one in half. It also eliminates funding for four of the president's "czars" and terminates dozens of federal programs. Representative Kelly issued the following statement on H.R. 1473, which passed the House 260 to 167:

"Today's vote is a prime example of not letting the perfect become the enemy of the good. While I personally don't believe that the cuts passed today are enough to address our record deficit spending, it's a good start. The fact of the matter is that House Republicans control one-half of one-third of government in Washington, and the Senate and White House arrived at today's agreement kicking and screaming. As they say, you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink. There is only so much we can do.

"I was sent to Washington to cut government spending, get our fiscal house in order, and hold Washington accountable to the people it serves. I feel I've honored that commitment with this vote. When the President starts the budget debate proposing a spending freeze and then ends up agreeing to $78.5 billion in spending cuts beyond what he originally wanted, I'd say we did the best we could considering the current power balance in Washington.

"Today was not about rolling over, it was about moving forward. We just finished three months of discussions over how to cut billions in spending, and tomorrow the debate advances to talks about cutting trillions. That's the direction we need to be headed in if we're going to lead our nation out of debt and toward a path to prosperity for future generations to enjoy."

Source