Letter to Constituents - Why I Support the Continuing Resolution to Fund the Government

Letter

Dear Friends,

In this Vote Note I want to tell you why I supported H.R. 1473--a Continuing Resolution (CR)--which is a bill to fund the government for the rest of this fiscal year--the next five months.

To be honest, it wasn't an easy decision. I am disappointed with the size and substance of this flawed bill:

It reduces our discretionary spending through the end of September by just under $40 billion.
I would have preferred a much greater reduction of spending for 2011.
I also wish it included a number of specific cuts such as the House's defunding of ObamaCare.

But despite its many flaws, I voted for it because the only thing worse than modest cuts is no cuts at all. And, there are several positive aspects to this bill:

Makes Historic Cuts. This bill represents the largest cut since World War II. It cuts spending just under $40 billion and spends $78.5 billion below the President's proposed spending.
Cuts EPA Funds. The bill reduces the EPA's budget by 16 percent, an agency that aggressively issues overly burdensome regulations that kill jobs.
Eliminates Waste. Today's bill also terminates more than 40 ineffective programs at the U.S. Department of Education alone.
No Higher Taxes, No Earmarks. It contains no tax increases and no earmarks. This is in stark contrast to two years ago when the President, with Nancy Pelosi's House and Harry Reid's Senate, signed into law a massive omnibus spending bill containing roughly 9,000 earmarks.
Funds Our Troops. This bill fully funds our troops who are bravely defending our country around the world.
Preserves Gitmo. It ensures that detainees at Guantanamo will not be brought to the United States nor released to other countries, which cannot adequately detain them.
Targets Red-Tape. This bill requires mandatory audits of the new job-crushing bureaucracy created under the Dodd-Frank law.
Defunds Parts of ObamaCare. It eliminates one of the President's 2010 health care law's most expensive programs and cuts a second nearly in half.
Eliminates Four "Czars." It eliminates four of the Obama Administration's controversial "czars" -- including the president's health czar charged with overseeing his government takeover of health care, his auto czar responsible for managing the federal government's takeover of U.S. auto manufacturers, and his climate change czar tasked with implementing the president's job-crushing national energy tax.
Forces Senate Votes. It also guarantees that the Senate will debate and vote on defunding two presidential priorities -- Obama's health care law and Planned Parenthood.

With the CR's passage, we can now work to pass our budget for FY 2012, which will cut over $6 trillion over the next decade.

If you would like additional information, please contact my office.

Thank you very much for reading.

Sincerely,

Tim Griffin

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