OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

Concurrent Resolution on the Budget, Fiscal Year 2014

Floor Speech

Date: March 22, 2013
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: National Security Taxes Veterans

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Mr. BURR. Mr. President, I rise in support of the Sanders amendment. I urge my colleagues to support it. I support chained CPI, just as the President, as it relates to entitlement reform. The fact is, if we want to protect veterans, then the important amendment is the next one. It is the amendment that bans excessive taxes from being applied to our country's veterans. It shields them from the massive tax increases found in this budget.

I yield the floor.

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Mr. BURR. Mr. President, I rise today to offer an amendment that will actually protect veterans, one that will protect them from the massive tax increases in this budget. The budget before us today raises $1 trillion but does not tell us how. My amendment would ensure that the Democrats in the Chamber cannot raise a dime of that trillion dollars on the backs of our Nation's veterans. It would strike their ability to fast-track any tax increases through this body.

I encourage all Members to vote for the amendment that will actually protect veterans from the threat before them. That threat is higher taxes that will come from this budget.

I yield back the remainder of my time.

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Mr. BURR. Mr. President, very quickly, the purpose of my amendment is very simple. It is to protect the American people and strengthen our national security by fully funding the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority and the BioShield Reserve Fund. BARDA and Bioshield are critical components of our Nation's medical countermeasure enterprise. Today these programs ensure that we have the countermeasures necessary to protect the American people against the full range of chemical, biologic, radiological, and nuclear threats whether natural or the result of manmade attacks. After 9/11 Congress established Bioshield to encourage the development of these countermeasures. Supporting BARDA and Bioshield at their authorized levels is a matter of national security and should be a priority.

I urge my colleagues to support this amendment.

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