Inhofe Responds to POTUS Veto Threat
INHOFE RESPONDS TO PRESIDENT’S VETO THREAT ON SEQUESTRATION FLEXIBILITY BILL
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) released the following statement today in response to the President’s Statement of Administrations Policy on S.16:
“It’s clear the President is concerned about the bill Sen. Toomey and I have introduced, because he knows this is the bipartisan solution that places the onus on him to mitigate the devastating impacts of sequestration cuts he set into this year. We’re likely to see party-line votes today on the two sequestration bills, but that is because Sen. Reid is only allowing two plans to come to the floor. On Feb. 19th, the President said sequestration doesn’t ‘consider whether we’re cutting some bloated program that has outlived its usefulness, or a vital service that Americans depend on every single day. It doesn’t make those distinctions.’ Our bill gives him the ability to work with Congress to make those distinctions to address bloated programs, yet now he wants to veto it.
“This veto threat simply continues the sad and broken narrative of President Obama that the only way to protect our national security and critical federal services is by asking hardworking Americans to pay more taxes. But sequestration is not about taxes. Sequestration is a law solely focused on cutting federal spending, and that must be the focus of this debate. By issuing his veto threat, the President shows that he is more focused on tired, political rhetoric and blaming others than demonstrating the leadership required to address our nation’s fiscal crisis.”
Sens. Inhofe and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) today introduced S.16, a bill to grant flexibility to the Office of Management and Budget for the full $85 billion in sequestration cuts for the rest of fiscal year 2013. The bill also grants the Department of Defense (DoD) transfer authority during the Continuing Resolution. For more information on S.16, please click here.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: CONTACT: Donelle Harder or Jake Heisten
February 28, 2013