Rep. Rick Larsen, WA-02, today voted against the Republican budget that fails to invest in the priorities of his constituents by neglecting infrastructure, cutting funding for students trying to access higher education, and repealing the Affordable Care Act. The U.S. House of Representatives passed H.Con.Res. 27, the Republican FY2016 Budget Resolution, by a vote of 228-199.

Larsen voted in favor of the Democratic alternative budget.

“The Republican budget does not speak to the issues that I hear about from my constituents. The budget should be a statement of our country’s values. This budget’s lack of commitment to investing in the repair of our roads, bridges and highways is surprising and disappointing. Freezing help for kids going to college is disconcerting at a time when our message should be that America will invest in our young people.

“Five years in, the Affordable Care Act has dropped the uninsured rate to its lowest recorded level, and health care costs are rising at the slowest rate in nearly 50 years. Yet the Republicans included a repeal of the ACA in their budget, their 57th attempt to repeal or undermine law.

“This attempt, however, has not stopped Republicans from using real savings from the ACA in combination with other illusory savings to claim they will balance the budget in 10 years.

“Finally, the Republican budget adds $38 billion above what the President requested to the Overseas Contingency Operations account. This account is supposed to be for war funding and is not subject to sequester caps. Moving non-emergency Pentagon spending into the OCO account goes against every fiscally responsible effort to force the Pentagon to live within its means.

“I voted in favor of the Democratic budget, which makes the investments we need to grow our economy and help people participate fully in their communities. Those investments include long-term funding for our roads, bridges and highways, as well as full funding for Pell Grants and other programs that help our students access the higher education they need to become the strong workers of tomorrow,” Larsen said.

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