U.S. Sen. Cruz Statement on Today’s Sequester Votes

WASHINGTON, DC — U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) made the following statement regarding his “no” votes on today’s sequester bills:

The Constitution assigns Congress the power of the purse and the responsibility to appropriate federal funds. Congress should take up that obligation, pass a budget, and finally get serious about reducing federal spending. Today, forty-six cents of every dollar the federal government spends is borrowed. Our national debt exceeds the size of our entire economy, threatening future generations. And, in the face of these grave economic challenges, Washington, DC, is agonizing over a 2.4 percent cut.

We need to cut a lot more than 2.4 percent. We should adjust the sequester so that it does not disproportionately target vital defense spending. Instead, Congress and the President should work together to eliminate government waste, and no government agency should be exempt from scrutiny where savings can be achieved. In fact, in a report issued just today Citizens Against Government Waste offers many promising suggestions, outlining $1.8 trillion in specific savings over five years.

The Obama Administration has the ability to implement the sequester so as to avoid damaging national security and compromising the best interests of Americans. The only reason it might do otherwise would be to score partisan political points.

To view CAGW's report, please visit: http://cagw.org/reporting/prime-cuts-1

###