McCollum Applauds Final Passage of Fiscal Year 2010 Federal Budget Resolution

Press Release

Congresswoman Betty McCollum (MN-04) today applauded House passage of S.Con.Res.13, the FY2010 budget conference agreement that embraces the priorities of President Obama's blueprint and puts the budget back on a fiscally sustainable path, while making significant investments in health care reform, higher education, and energy independence. The budget will lower the deficit from $1.7 trillion in 2009 to $523 billion by 2014.

"This budget reflects the values of the Americans and their desire to make investments in the future of our families, communities, and country. The challenges ahead of us are significant, but if Congress can continue to work effectively with President Obama to focus on solving problems and investing in the American people, as we do in this budget resolution, we will see real results," McCollum said.

The conference report on the budget resolution confronts the economic crisis facing American families and businesses by making strategic investments in education, health care reform and energy independence to help restore growth at home and keep the U.S. competitive in the global economy. The report also confronts the difficult fiscal situation left by the last Administration, which inherited a $5.6 trillion projected surplus in 2001.

The budget resolution calls for cuts in taxes for families who make less than $250,000, cuts the deficit and puts restraints on spending. It includes tax cuts of more than $1.7 trillion over the next ten years for middle-income Americans, permanently extending the middle-income tax cuts adopted in 2001 and 2003: the 10 percent bracket, the child tax credit, and marriage penalty relief.

The plan ushers in a new era of honesty and accountability in budgeting. While the previous administration masked costs like the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and natural disasters to make the deficit appear smaller, President Obama and this Congress have included estimates of these costs for every year in the budget.

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