WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), top Democrat on the Natural Resources Committee and senior member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, issued the following statement after passage of the Sequester Replacement Reconciliation Act, which would roll back the automatic defense spending cuts agreed to in the Budget Control Act of 2011. Rep. Markey introduced H.R. 3974, the Smarter Approach to Nuclear Expenditures (SANE) Act to cut $100 billion over the next decade from America’s bloated nuclear weapons budget.
 
“Republicans are putting the CON in the budget reconciliation process. It’s one big CON game with Grandma, hungry children, and Americans with disabilities getting conned to guard funding for gold-plated defense contracts.
 
“Republicans would rather go back on their support for last year’s debt deal and turn over more than $300 billion to the Pentagon to pay for nuclear weapons we no longer need while calling for cuts to food stamps, Medicaid benefits, and preventive health care.
 
“Instead of cutting funding for defense, Republicans chose cutting programs for the defenseless. Let’s stop wasting billions on outdated 20th century Cold War weapons and prepare for our 21st century long-term economic and security needs.”  
 
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