Sen. Carper Applauds Passage of Bipartisan Budget Act

WASHINGTON – Today, Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) issued the following statement after the U.S. Senate passed the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013 by a vote of 64 to 36. The legislation now heads to the White House for the president’s signature.

“Today I joined 63 of my colleagues to pass the Bipartisan Budget Act to return the appropriations process to regular order over the next two years. I’m hopeful this bipartisan bill will prevent another harmful and unnecessary government shutdown, like the one this fall that cost our economy $24 billion and rattled the confidence of the American people.  I applaud my Senate colleague Chairman Patty Murray (D-WA) for working tirelessly with House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) to broker a budget deal that could gain support from both sides of the aisle.  This deal isn’t perfect in anyone’s estimation, but it is a balanced approach to replace the draconian and thoughtless sequestration cuts and bring some normalcy back to the budget process.”

“Getting our nation’s deficit and debt under control is critical for the well-being of our nation and economy. I have long advocated for a three-pronged approach to reducing our nation’s deficit and debt by raising revenues, reforming entitlement programs in a humane way that preserves these programs for future generations and adopting policies that enable federal agencies and programs to get better results for less money.

“Congress and the Administration must continue to work together to sustain and strengthen our economic recovery and put our country on a sustainable fiscal path.  I hope we can build on the momentum of this small deal so that we can tackle much tougher issues in 2014 and beyond.”