Carper Statement on Finance Hearing with Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Finance Committee, released the following statement on the Finance Committee hearing with Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin to examine President Trump’s fiscal year 2019 budget request.

“There’s an old saying about fiscal frivolity: ‘spending money like a drunken sailor.’ As a 23-year veteran of the Navy and Naval Reserves, I’ve known many sailors in my life. I can say with certainty that the way our federal government spends money is an insult to drunken sailors.

“This week, President Trump sent Congress a budget that guts domestic spending across federal agencies in the name of fiscal responsibility – mere months after he signed into law permanent corporate tax cuts that will cost our country nearly $1.5 trillion over the next decade, incurring growing deficits. That is not fiscal responsibility.

“Since I’ve served in the U.S. Senate, one of my top priorities has been finding ways to get better results for less money across the federal government. There are smart ways that we can save money without hurting people, and we have a fiscal and moral obligation to do just that. We can – and we must – save money across federal agencies without taking away people’s health care, eliminating protections for our environment and public health, and cutting programs that communities rely on.”

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