Letter to the Hon. Paul Ryan, Speaker of the House, and the Hon. Mitch McConnell, Majority Leader - Urge Bipartisan Budget Negotiations & Forgo Partisan Funding Bill That Would Underfund Efforts To Combat the Opioid Epidemic, Security Agencies like the FBI, Cancer Research, Veterans Healthcare, Rural Infrastructure & More

Letter

Dear Speaker Ryan and Leader McConnell:

We write to express our concern with reports that the House Republican leadership is considering sending partisan legislation to the Senate that would result in funding cuts to important homeland security, veterans, agriculture and health care programs. As you know, Democrats and Republicans are engaged in bipartisan negotiations to craft a budget agreement for Fiscal Years 2018 and 2019 that would avoid devastating sequestration cuts to defense and domestic programs. We urge you to keep your commitment to the bipartisan budget negotiations and forego any plans to consider partisan legislation known as a "CRomnibus."

According to estimates, domestic programs will see at least $12 billion in cuts in FY2018 due to sequestration and other spending obligations. Therefore, a "CRomnibus," which means a funding bill that provides full-year sequestration relief for military programs but not for other important domestic programs, would result in devastating cuts to homeland security agencies like the FBI, cancer research programs at the NIH, and opioid treatment funding at HHS.

There is a better path -- let the bipartisan negotiation continue in good faith so that Democrats and Republicans can produce a budget agreement that fully funds our homeland security, health care, and Veterans' needs. If presented with partisan legislation that leaves these key priorities behind, we will oppose it.

Sincerely,