CÁRDENAS DEMANDS THAT RYAN COMMIT TO 2015 BUDGET
Friday, January 17, 2014
CÁRDENAS DEMANDS THAT RYAN COMMIT TO 2015 BUDGET
(Washington, DC) -- U.S. Rep. Tony Cárdenas (D-San Fernando Valley), a member of the House Committee on the Budget, and former Chair of the California State Assembly Budget Committee, today called on Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), Chair of the Committee on the Budget, to disavow printed reports indicating that Republican House Leadership have chosen to forego writing an FY 2015 budget, due to fears of tough choices in a campaign year.
“This choice demonstrates exactly how out of touch Congress is with the demands of our constituents,” said Cárdenas, in his letter to Ryan. “The people of the United States have not asked us to work miracles, but they do want us to earn our paychecks here in Washington, not just campaign for another term.”
Cárdenas continued by calling on Ryan to, “commit to writing, debating and passing a federal budget for FY 2015.”
Cárdenas also noted that the failure to write a budget would be yet another shortcoming of Congress, following next week’s House recess, despite having “failed millions of Americans,” by failing to even vote on an extension of emergency unemployment insurance.
This failure has left more than 53,000 families, including thousands of children, in Los Angeles County without the critical benefit that unemployment insurance provides.
The full text of Cárdenas’ letter to Ryan is below.
January 17, 2014
The Honorable Paul Ryan
Chairman, Budget Committee
207 Cannon House Office Building
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Mr. Chairman,
While I am a freshman member of this House, I am writing you regarding an issue in which I have a great deal of experience: writing a budget.
As a former Chair of the California Assembly Committee on the Budget and the Conference Committee Chairman, I led the effort to write and pass a balanced budget for the then fifth-largest economy in the world. I understand the challenges, both financial and political, of creating a spending blueprint. I also understand that, particularly for those of us on the Budget Committee in this House, our constituents did not send us to Washington to ignore our jobs.
An article in Thursday’s National Journal reported discussions among House Republican leadership indicating the House Budget Committee will not produce a federal budget for FY 2015. The article further states that your leadership made this decision to avoid making tough political choices before elections this November. You should not allow election year politics to take precedence our legislative responsibilities.
If accurate, this choice demonstrates exactly how out of touch Congress is with the demands of our constituents. The people of the United States have not asked us to work miracles, but they do want us to earn our paychecks here in Washington, not just campaign for another term.
Members left for recess this week, breathing a sigh of relief, as we barely passed a last minute budget. However, that budget left millions of families in danger of poverty, since Republican leadership ignored an extension of emergency unemployment benefits.
That is unacceptable. This body did not do its job as public servants. We failed millions of Americans. Not writing a budget would be another such failure.
This proposed abdication of our responsibility is deplorable, and is yet another symptom of the Washington sickness that envelops our House. I am ready to work with you to ensure our nation stops careening from one Continuing Resolution to another, to provide the certainty of funding that the American people and businesses deserve.
We owe it to the people of Janesville, the people of the San Fernando Valley, and the people of this entire nation to fulfill our duties. I call on you to disavow the reports from your leadership and commit to writing, debating and passing a federal budget for FY 2015.
I am ready to work with you in passing a budget that fulfills our obligations to the American people. Let us provide a responsible budget that reflects the priorities of hard working American families who have to keep track of their own budgets every day.
Sincerely,
TONY CÁRDENAS
Member of Congress
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