SCHUMER: CONGRESS SHOULD ADOPT FIVE-YEAR SPENDING FREEZE PROPOSED IN PRESIDENT OBAMA'S BUDGET
Freeze Would Cut $400 Billion Over 10 Years, Bringing Domestic Discretionary Spending to Lowest Levels Since Eisenhower
Senator: We All Agree On Need to Cut Spending, Now Let's Have a Debate On What Exactly To Cut
WASHINGTON, DCToday, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer (DNY) announced he is endorsing President Obama's call for a fiveyear freeze on domestic discretionary spending, and urged Congress to adopt it as a needed step to reduce the deficit. Schumer said the approach is a responsible alternative to House Republicans' more extreme proposals to slash programs that would help the economy grow and that help keep Americans safe.
The fiveyear freeze would reduce the deficit by more than $400 billion over 10 years, bringing nonsecurity discretionary spending to the lowest share of the economy since the Eisenhower presidency.
"This is a responsible proposal that shows we are serious about cutting spending. I believe this approach should have bipartisan support," Schumer said.
"We all agree on the need to rein in spending, now let's have a debate about what exactly should be cut. We need to use a smart, sharp scalpel to cut out the waste and excess rather than blindly swinging a meat axe at the budget," Schumer added.
President Obama first proposed the discretionary spending freeze in his State of the Union address. The FY 2012 budget proposal delivered to Congress yesterday makes good on that promise. Overall, the budget would reduce the deficit by more than $1 trillion over 10 years.
While Schumer said he did not agree with every programmatic reduction proposed in the President's budget, he said he supported the overall caps on spending called for by the freeze.
