Press Release: Congress Frank Guinta on the Continuing Resolution - Granite Grok

Press Release: Congress Frank Guinta on the Continuing Resolution

For Immediate Release
Contact:  J. Mark Powell
(202) 226-8530

GUINTA STATEMENT ON A SHORT-TERM CONTINUING RESOLUTION

“I won’t vote for a stopgap spending bill that doesn’t contain meaningful cuts in federal spending.”

(Washington – February 28, 2011)    Rep. Frank Guinta (NH-01) released the following statement on a short-term Continuing Resolution.

Background:    On February 19th, the House passed a Continuing Resolution to fund the government through the end of the fiscal year on September 30th.  It contained cuts in current spending totaling $61 billion.  Congressman Guinta voted for it.  That bill is now in the Senate, where its chances for passage are unfavorable.  Funding for government operations expire on Friday, March 4th.

Statement:    “There is talk on Capitol Hill about a short-term Continuing Resolution to keep the government operating for two weeks.  Let me say right now:  I won’t vote for a stopgap spending bill that doesn’t include meaningful cuts in federal spending.

“Let’s remember how we got in this mess.  House Democrats abdicated their responsibility last year by refusing to even write a federal budget for this fiscal year.  President Obama also surrendered fiscal leadership by submitting a budget proposal for the next fiscal year that only pays lip service to reining in spending, and which actually would increase spending by $8.7 trillion over the next decade.

“Republicans in the House acted responsibly and honored the people’s wishes by approving $61 billion in immediate spending cuts.  I don’t want a government shutdown, and my Republican colleagues don’t want that to happen, either.  But I cannot surrender the commitment I made to Granite Staters to bring spending under control, and to do it pronto.  The ball is in the Senate’s court, and I urge them to also heed the desire of the people they serve.  

“We can easily avoid depriving our citizens of the government services they rely on by passing a spending bill that shows we’re serious about stopping the government’s spending spree.  Doing anything less is an insult to the people who sent us here.

For more information, contact J. Mark Powell at (202) 226-8530 or jmark.powell@mail.house.gov.

Upon receiving this presser, I called his office in DC to make sure of the intent: He does not wish to see a government shutdown, but he did campaigned on promising to make Government smaller and to cut the out of control spending that his predecessor, Carol Shea-Porter, was in favor of.  If the Senate Democrats reject the spending cuts that the House has put in, he will vote against the Continuing Resolution.

The ball is in the Senate Democrats’ court – will they man up and stop the run off the financial cliff, or are they going to try to play chicken?

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