Concord Coalition Praises Rep. Schwartz's Leadership on the Federal Budget

Press Release

The Concord Coalition will honor U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz this evening for her leadership on fiscal issues. Schwartz, the No. 2 Democrat on the House Budget Committee, has a long record of working toward deficit reduction.

Schwartz, along with 38 of her colleagues who voted for the only bipartisan budget proposal this year, will be presented with the Economic Patriot Award. That plan cuts the deficit by $4 trillion over the next 10 years with a balanced approach--two-thirds of the deficit savings from spending cuts and one-third from tax reform. The budget alternative also repeals sequestration, replacing the automatic, across-the-board cuts due to begin in Jan. 2013 with a comprehensive, balanced plan for deficit reduction.

The Concord Coalition is a nationwide, non-partisan, grassroots organization advocating generationally responsible fiscal policy. The Concord Coalition was founded in 1992 by the late former Senator Paul Tsongas (D-Mass.), former Senator Warren Rudman (R-N.H.), and former U.S. Secretary of Commerce Peter Peterson. Former Senator Sam Nunn (D-GA) serves as co-chair of the Concord Coalition.

The Concord Coalition is dedicated to educating the public about the causes and consequences of federal budget deficits, the long-term challenges facing America's unsustainable entitlement programs, and how to build a sound economy for future generations.

"We salute Rep. Allyson Schwartz for her courageous support of the Cooper-LaTourette legislation, which was the only bipartisan budget to be voted on in the House this year," said The Concord Coalition's Executive Director Robert L. Bixby. "In doing so, she put the national interest over partisan and parochial concerns. We wish that more of her colleagues will follow her example."

"We have a responsibility to reduce our nation's deficit and ensure America can compete in a 21st century global economy. That means we need to work together and make tough choices," Schwartz said. "I am proud to be one of the 38 members of Congress to support a bipartisan budget proposal that cuts spending and increases revenue to reduce the deficit, makes strategic investments to grow our economy, and makes smart choices that enable us to meet our obligations as a nation."

The bipartisan budget proposal was introduced by U.S. Reps. Steve LaTourette (R-OH) and Jim Cooper (D-TN), and was based on the principles outlined by the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, co-chaired by former Sen. Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles. Simpson is a former Republican Senator from Wyoming and Bowles is the former White House chief of staff to President Bill Clinton.

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