Hal Rogers released the following statement on the President’s Fiscal Year 2013 budget request

House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers released the following statement on the President’s Fiscal Year 2013 budget request, released today by the White House: “The Appropriations Committee will take a close look at the President’s budget request, and is prepared to work with the Administration in areas of mutual interest. However, the President’s budget falls exceptionally short in many critical areas – including a lack of any substantive proposal for mandatory and entitlement spending reform. It is imperative that both the President and Congress put greater focus on addressing the exploding costs of these programs – which make up the vast majority of the federal budget. Without meaningful action in this area, the nation’s debt and deficit crisis will continue, increasing the risk to our nation’s financial and economic future.

“Over the next few weeks and months, the Appropriations Committee will conduct comprehensive budget oversight hearings, including calling on Administration officials to account for their past and proposed use of taxpayer dollars. The Committee will go line by line through the President’s budget, prioritize programs, and make decisions on the appropriate investment of discretionary funds. It is essential that this Congress do its utmost to root out the unnecessary, ineffectual, and problematic spending in this budget to ensure that each tax dollar is well spent – continuing our historical reductions that have saved the taxpayers $95 billion over the last two years.”

TEXT CREDIT: Committee on Appropriations, H-307, The Capitol Washington, DC 20515 Main Number: (202) 225-2771

IMAGE CREDIT: Congressman Hal Rogers

Chairman Frank Lucas released the following statement regarding President Obama's fiscal year 2013 budget proposal

WASHINGTON – Today, Chairman Frank Lucas released the following statement regarding President Obama's fiscal year 2013 budget proposal. "The President's budget demonstrates that neither rural America nor fiscal discipline is a priority for this administration. Raising taxes on small businesses and ignoring the real drivers of trillion dollar deficits is a failure of leadership. "The agriculture community remains committed to doing its part in deficit reduction. However, this proposal shows a lack of perspective and understanding in how agriculture can realistically contribute.

"For example, President Obama’s proposal to cut crop insurance threatens the integrity of the program itself. And, he ignores other areas for savings such as streamlining or eliminating duplicative programs in conservation, or closing loopholes in nutrition spending. Nutrition spending comprises 80 percent of the agriculture baseline and there is bipartisan support in Congress to save billions by eliminating loopholes, but not one penny is cut in the President’s budget.

"Not only does it fail to address our serious fiscal problems, but it undermines our investment in providing a stable food supply," said Chairman Frank Lucas.

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MEDIA CONTACT: Tamara Hinton, 202.225.0184 tamara.hinton@mail.house.gov

TEXT CREDIT: House Committee on Agriculture 1301 Longworth House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 Phone: 202-225-2171 Fax: 202-225-0917 Email: AgRepublicanPress@mail.house.gov

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