Hank's statement on President's 2012 budget proposal; Republican cuts for FY 2011

Today, Congressman Hank Johnson (GA-04) issued the following statement on President Obama’s proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2012. The release of the president’s budget coincides with debate in the House on legislation funding the government for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2011 under a continuing resolution.

“Fiscal responsibility demands that we all make sacrifices,” said Johnson. “President Obama’s budget proposal reflects that reality and those painful choices. In contrast, the Republicans’ call to strip the cupboard bare of funding for the remainder of 2011 reflects their thoughtless scramble to meet an arbitrary $100 billion campaign promise. This is not a thoughtful approach to deficit reduction and job creation. Not surprisingly, the burden of their drastic cuts will be shouldered by low- and middle-income families and hugely impact our ability to invest in our future.

In two years, with President Obama’s leadership and the aggressive action of the Democratic Congress, we brought the nation back from the brink of economic collapse. We are at the beginning of a lasting recovery. The economy is growing and unemployment is coming down. We cannot throw that all away now by making indiscriminate cuts that would undermine economic recovery and cut basic public services by taking teachers out of classrooms, police officers off the streets, and firefighters off duty.

I and my like-minded colleagues will do everything in our power to protect and defend the necessary services and regulations that ensure public safety, economic development, job creation, health care, an enhanced quality of life and investments in our energy independence and future growth. There are tough choices and battles ahead. We must all be prepared to make informed and targeted choices that will be fiscally sound, but keep us moving forward.”

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