Congressman Peters Condemns Tea Party Driven Gridlock

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congressman Scott Peters (CA-52) released the following statement after voting against H.J.Res. 59, the Tea Party driven plan to maintain sequester cuts and defund the Affordable Care Act. While H.J.Res. 59 passed the House on a 230-189 vote today, it is not expected to pass the Senate and President Obama has said he would veto the bill.

“The proposal on the floor today was nothing more than a political gimmick,” Congressman Peters said. “It maintains the sequester cuts, which are already hurting our military, gutting scientific research, and undermining necessary investments in infrastructure and education. Further, because it attempts to defund the Affordable Care Act, it has no chance of passing the Senate or being signed by the President.”

“There are ten days left before the government runs out of money. Today, Republican leaders wasted an opportunity to work across the aisle to find a viable solution that protected our economic recovery and avoided a government shutdown. I’m a supporter of ‘No Budget, No Pay’ legislation that would stop members of Congress from getting paid if they don’t get a budget done. This week, I introduced a package of bills that would manage our national debt without threatening our national credit rating.  Instead of continuing to play political games with the American people’s future, it’s time that Congress got back to work on a long-term budget solution that finds targeted, mission-driven cuts and leads toward a path of debt reduction.”

###