FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Joseph Rendeiro
(202) 776-1566
jrendeiro@nclr.org
By a vote of 64 to 36, today the Senate passed the “Bipartisan Budget Act,” which will restore $23 billion in funding for programs that were slashed by sequestration. Although the agreement is not perfect, NCLR (National Council of La Raza) commends Congress for working together to craft a budget that offers significant relief from some sequester cuts for two years and avoids another unnecessary fiscal crisis.
“We are pleased to see lawmakers on both sides of the aisle agree to a budget that mitigates the harm of another round of deep cuts to the health, education and employment programs that Latinos and other communities need to survive,” said Janet Murguía, President and CEO of NCLR. “Latinos understand the importance of deficit reduction but strongly believe that it cannot come at the expense of our children’s health and education. Congress is finally listening to the American people who overwhelmingly rejected the policies that led to the government shutdown. We hope that today’s vote marks a turning point for how Congress handles federal budget policy moving forward.”
NCLR and Latino Decisions recently released a survey showing that Hispanic voters have been dissatisfied with the handling of federal budget policy by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. The survey found that Latino voters are twice as likely to vote for a member of Congress who supports stopping the cuts and restoring funding for government programs than a member who supports keeping sequestration.
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