02/21/11 Friday, Congressman Joe Donnelly released the following statement regarding his plans on final passage of H.R. 1, the legislation before the House of Representatives that would fund the federal government for the rest of Fiscal Year 2011.
“We need to cut federal spending, and everyone is going to have to tighten their belts in the process,” said Donnelly. “There is a sensible way to do this: significantly reduce spending without completely defunding certain programs.
We need to get our fiscal house in order, but this legislation places a disproportionate share of the burden on the least well-off among us. For example, this bill would severely cut heating assistance for low-income households and significantly reduce funding for food assistance for low-income women and children. Also, this bill would drastically cut the size of Pell Grants that help over 20,000 Hoosiers in north central Indiana access higher education. We should not be making it harder for those Americans most in need to go to college. A well-educated workforce is one of the best investments we can make in the health of our economy and future of our country. For these and other reasons, I plan on voting ‘no’ on final passage of this bill.
I stand ready to vote for a budget with significant reductions that are better balanced than this effort.”
