“I won’t stand by and greenlight this abuse of taxpayer funds.”
U.S. SENATE – Senator Steve Daines today issued the following statement after voting against the spending package that includes $12,700,000,000 of earmarks and perpetuates Washington’s broken budget process.
“Instead of doing its job and passing responsible spending bills on time, Congress continues to fail Montanans and the American people. It is unacceptable that we are almost halfway through the fiscal year and are still trying to pass spending bills. This 1,000-plus page package is chock full of wasteful spending. I won’t stand by and greenlight this abuse of taxpayer funds. We must put an end to Washington’s toxic spending habits.”
Some highlights from the pork barrel spending in the bill include:
- $3,500,000 for Michigan’s Thanksgiving Parade Foundation
- $1,000,000 for an environmental justice center in New York City
- $1,000,000 for gardens in San Francisco
- $1,650,000 for the “Environmental Leaders of Color” to build an artists’ living and workplace in New York
Earlier this week, Senator Daines helped introduce a resolutioncondemning the practice of earmarks and calling for a return to fiscal sanity.
Before the final vote, every single Senate Democrat voted against an amendment that would have prevented illegal immigrants from being included in population calculations for congressional redistricting and Electoral College votes.