Rep. Rick Larsen, WA-02, today hailed the announcement that Congressional leaders have reached a bipartisan budget deal with President Obama. The two-year Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 raises spending evenly between defense and domestic priorities, while also suspending the nation’s borrowing limit until March 2017.

“People in Northwest Washington and across the country deserve a government that supports jobs and opportunity for hardworking families. The bipartisan budget compromise is a critical step toward keeping the government working for people in the Pacific Northwest.

“I want to see a budget that invests wisely in all of our national priorities. The ongoing threat of job-killing, across-the-board spending cuts must end. Indiscriminate sequester cuts endanger investments that families across Northwest Washington depend on, from Head Start programs in Skagit County to housing for low-income veterans on Whidbey Island to meals for seniors in Snohomish County. I support the approach in this agreement that rolls back these harmful cuts and raises equally investments in defense and domestic priorities.

“The agreement also prevents our country from defaulting on its debts by suspending the borrowing limit. I want to be clear that this move does not allow more spending, but instead makes sure the United States can pay for the debts that it has already incurred.

“This budget deal gives me hope that Congress can put an end to manufactured crises and shutdown politics. The agreement is not perfect, but it is a compromise that can move our country forward. Hardworking families are depending on Congress to get this done,” Larsen said.

A fact sheet about the budget agreement is available here.

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