05.17.12

Hoeven Statement on Wednesday's U.S. Senate Budget Votes

WASHINGTON – Senator John Hoeven late Wednesday voted to bring two proposed budgets to the floor of the U.S. Senate for amendment and open debate: the U.S. House Budget Resolution and the Restoring Balance budget plan. The senator today issued the following statement:

“Our nation faces severe fiscal challenges. Clearly Congress needs to act on our nation’s deficit and debt, yet the President submitted a budget that gained not a single vote in either the House or the Senate from Republicans or Democrats. Both the House Budget Resolution and the Restoring Balance plan we voted on Wednesday would serve as starting points to balance our budget without raising taxes, but they are not perfect.

“For example, I believe we need to move forward on Farm Bill legislation as we’ve passed in the Agriculture Committee. Also, any new budget needs to preserve vital entitlement programs so that our seniors and future generations can count on them. It should not change these programs for anyone at or near retirement age, although reforms are necessary so that the programs are solvent for the long-term and future generations.

“As we work to address the nation’s deficit and debt for the American people, however, we need to get a budget bill to the floor of the U.S. Senate so that it can be debated and amended in an open and transparent process, and ultimately passed with bipartisan support.”