WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), chairman of twin energy and environment panels in Congress, today voted in favor of a federal budget that will set both Massachusetts and the country back on the path to prosperity.

“Today the House approved a fiscally responsible budget that will improve the quality of our health care, make college education more accessible and put America on a path towards a clean energy future,” said Rep. Markey.

“This budget invests in the future, helps fix the economy and returns the nation to fiscal responsibility after eight long years. The budget will grow our economy, create jobs and cut the deficit in the long-term. Democrats have outlined a bold plan to fix our broken health care system, make historic investments in education and create jobs with targeted investments in clean energy. America must become the leader in clean energy technology and this budget will help get us there.”

The House-passed long term economic plan will shrink the deficit nearly two-thirds by 2013. It cuts taxes for middle class families by $1.7 trillion over the next 10 years. It will create jobs and grow our economy with targeted investments and reforms in health care, clean energy and education while reducing non-defense discretionary spending to its lowest level in nearly half a century.

This long term economic plan ushers in a new era of honesty in budgeting by fully accounting for known expenses like the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that previous administrations left out in order to make the deficit look smaller. To bring change and restore fiscal integrity to Washington, this budget puts an unprecedented effort on rooting out waste, fraud and abuse in government spending. # # #