Press Releases

MEDIA CONTACT:
Tamara Hinton (202) 225-0184
tamara.hinton@mail.house.gov

Today, Ranking Member Frank Lucas issued the following statement after he rejected the Democratic budget. The U.S. House of Representatives passed the measure on a largely party-line vote, 233-196.

“We have become entirely too comfortable talking about trillion dollar deficits without thinking about what that means for the future of our country. It must stop.

“Under the Democratic budget, the debt of this country will grow to be over 80% of the size of the entire annual production of goods and services in this country. We are headed for rampant inflation, high interest rates, and huge tax increases that will shut down small businesses and family farms.

“No matter what my Democratic colleagues say about what is in and what is not in this budget, make no mistake: this budget is an assault on production agriculture. It will increase energy costs, increase taxes, and devastate rural economies.

“The cap and trade plan envisioned by the Democratic budget will increase input costs like fuel, electricity, and fertilizer.

“The estate tax, which was on track to be eliminated, will return and force families to sell their farms to satisfy the IRS.

“The very survival of my constituents will be threatened by the proposals in this budget. I voted no because we cannot afford to bury private investment and productivity in more taxes. We cannot afford to destroy our economy to feed the insatiable appetite for ever increasing government spending,” said Ranking Member Frank Lucas.

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