WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman G. K. Butterfield (NC-01) issued the following statement after voting against the Republican Fiscal Year 2106 Budget, which passed in the House today:
“I’m dismayed that we find ourselves here yet again. The Republican majority, moments ago, passed their FY’16 budget which does little to address the concerns and needs of everyday Americans. Not only does their budget make drastic reductions in funding to important economic drivers such as education, research, and infrastructure, but it also makes the American dream even more unattainable. Year after year the Republican majority passes budgets that give significant tax breaks to the super wealthy at the expense of stifling the progress of children, women, seniors, and hard-working families.
“What’s even more egregious are the steep $125 billion cut to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the $913 billion cut to Medicaid. If implemented, these proposals would have devastating effects on our nation’s most vulnerable citizens, including many in my home state of North Carolina.
“I cannot and will not support a measure that does so little for poor, low-income, and middle-class Americans. We need an alternative budget plan that eases the paths to homeownership, the middle-class, higher wages, college, and retirement—not a plan that reverses it.”