Today, Congressman Xavier Becerra (CA-34), Chairman of the House Democratic Caucus released the following statement after voting against H.R. 1960, the House version of the Defense spending bill for FY 2014, which undercuts investments in programs and services here at home in order to push the partisan House Republican Budget plan forward:
"Our men and women who put themselves in harm's way every day always deserve our gratitude. And they deserve the adequate resources to defend our country. But using our troops as cover to double down on the same failed policies of the past is bad for our country, bad for our economy and bad for our military. We shouldn't ask middle class families, low-income children, seniors, and the most vulnerable Americans to bear unfair burdens while ignoring sensible defense reductions. This is a time when Congress' number one job should be to rebuild the middle class."