Press Releases
Rep. Pascrell Statement on President Obama’s Final Budget Proposal
Washington, DC,
February 10, 2016
Tags:
Economy
Today, Congressman Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-N.J.), member of the House Budget Committee, today expressed support for the President’s budget proposal, while also condemning the refusal of Republicans on the House Budget Committee to hold a hearing on the President’s proposal for fiscal year 2017. Last week, Republicans announced they’d break longstanding regular order and reject the President’s budget - sight unseen - because his past budgets haven’t adhered to the Tea Party’s harmful priorities like slashing social safety net programs, threatening Social Security, and protecting special interest tax loopholes. "President Obama’s budget is a reflection of the American principle that we succeed as nation behind the success of our Middle Class. The budget builds on the progress of more than 14 million jobs created over 70 months and adding 18 million people with health coverage under the Affordable Care Act," Pascrell said. "Unfortunately, too many Americans have been left behind and the policies in this budget can help break that cycle of middle class stagnation. I wonder if across the aisle if my colleagues are ready to put some concrete policy proposals on the table to address the working poor. Or will it just be more of the same: tax cuts for the rich and spending cuts for the rest?" "We experienced the longest streak of job growth on record under this president. We reduced the unemployment rate by half under this president," Pascrell said. "He must be doing something right. And yet somehow that does not qualify his for a budget hearing? Before even seeing the President’s proposals, House Republicans decided to forego 40 years of precedent and deny the Administration a hearing on the budget. That is an disgraceful dereliction of duty." Rep. Pascrell praised the President’s budget for including several of his priorities, including: • The Paterson Great Falls National Historic Park, created through legislation authored by Pascrell, would see its operating budget increased by 55% in the budget blueprint ($579,000 in FY16 to $896,000 in FY17). • The Pascrell-authored Bring Jobs Home Act provides tax incentives for locating jobs and business activity in the U.S. and remove tax deductions for shipping jobs overseas. • The Pascrell-authored bill to provide Puerto Rico with the Earned Income Tax Credit. • Traumatic Brain Injury programs see increased funding, including the Brain Initiative at $195 million within NIH, $45 million more than FY16; CDC Injury Prevention Center (including TBI prevention) is funded at $268.62 million, which is an increase from the $236.05 in FY16; and the Defense Health Program (including TBI/Psychological Health Account is funding at $33.467 billion, an increase from the $32.329 billion in FY2016). Rep. Pascrell also joined Democratic member of the Budget Committee in signing a letter to Chairman Tom Price unanimously condemning his refusal to hold a hearing. “This choice is more than just a rejection of the House Budget Committee’s longstanding, bipartisan tradition; it is disrespectful to the Committee members, the public and the President,” the Members wrote in a letter to House Budget Committee Chairman Tom Price. “We urge you to rethink your choice, and to ensure that the Committee lives up to its responsibilities to our members, this Congress and the American people.” The full text of the letter is below: Dear Chairman Price: We are appalled at your decision refusing to hold a hearing where the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) presents the President’s fiscal year 2017 budget. This choice is more than just a rejection of the House Budget Committee’s longstanding, bipartisan tradition; it is disrespectful to the Committee members, the public and the President. You deem the President’s budget unworthy of review – sight unseen – because past Administration budgets have rejected the Tea Party agenda. Indeed, the President’s budgets embody starkly different priorities than recent Republican budgets that disinvest in America, privatize Medicare, hurt the middle class, slash social safety net programs like Medicaid, threaten retirement security, protect special interest tax loopholes for the ultra-wealthy, and use gimmicky accounting tricks to falsely claim balance. Every year since 1975, the Budget Committee has held a hearing on the President’s budget with a high-level witness representing OMB. That hearing provides Members of Congress their first opportunity to examine the breadth of the President’s request. While other committees may hold later hearings that focus on specific aspects of the Administration’s request, the Budget Committee is the only one that also looks at its overall budgetary impact. In fact, at the start of the 114th Congress the Majority of the Committee approved an oversight plan that states its intention to hold hearings with both the OMB Director and the Treasury Secretary on the President’s fiscal year 2017 budget. That oversight plan also states that “In the process of developing the annual concurrent budget resolution, the Committee will hold hearings and receive testimony from Members of Congress, Cabinet-level and other Federal officials, State and local officials, and expert witnesses to review the budget and economic outlook, the President’s budget submissions and other budget proposals.” We urge you to rethink your choice, and to ensure that the Committee lives up to its responsibilities to our members, this Congress and the American people. Sincerely, Chris Van Hollen (MD-08), Ranking Member |