SHAHEEN AMENDMENT CALLING FOR END TO SEQUESTRATION PASSES APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE

(WASHINGTON, DC) – The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee approved an amendment offered by Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) today that calls for the end to automatic budget cuts known as sequestration.

“Part of our jobs in Congress is to review the federal budget and make tough decisions,” said Senator Shaheen. “We need to address our deficit and rein in our spending, but it’s been abundantly clear since sequestration was proposed that this method of blind budget cutting is not the prudent approach. It has done real damage to the capabilities of our federal agencies, to small businesses, and to middle class families. The approval of my amendment sends the message that there’s bipartisan agreement in the Senate that the sequester needs to be replaced with a balanced solution.”

The amendment, which passed by a vote of 18-12 in the Appropriations Committee, was added to the FY16 Defense Appropriations bill today. It expresses the sense of the Senate that sequestration relief should be accomplished for fiscal years 2016 and 2017, that it should be equal between defense and non-defense spending, and that the relief should be offset through targeted changes in mandatory and discretionary spending and revenue.

The full text of the amendment is here.