March 9, 2011
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) today issued the following statement on the budget proposals considered by the U.S. Senate today. Harkin is a senior member of the Appropriations Committee and chairman of its labor, health and education subcommittee. He is also Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee.
"The contrast between these two proposals could not have been starker. The House budget embodies the Republican approach to reducing deficits: one that is recklessly driven by ideology. In fact, it holds the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy to be sacred, while taking a meat ax to essential parts of the budget - everything from cancer research to education to safety net programs for our most vulnerable citizens.
"Economists agree that this proposal will kill jobs. With nine percent unemployment and a fragile economy, why in the world would we pass a bill that we know will kill hundreds of thousands of jobs? The Senate rightly rejected the House proposal.
"But the Democratic proposal offered a reasonable approach to budgeting - one that reduces the deficit without crippling our economic recovery, without slashing funding for priorities such as education or unfairly targeting the most vulnerable. I supported this effort because of its balanced approach.
"As the two chambers work out the details of another funding proposal, my hope is that this same spirit of balance in budgeting will prevail and any new outline includes spending cuts and necessary revenue increases, while making room for critical investments in education, job training, infrastructure, and research - things that are essential for jobs now and for economic expansion and job creation in the years ahead."
Senator Harkin's office compiled various analysis pieces on the impact of the House budget proposal on Iowa. A compilation can be found here.
