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Quigley Statement on Passage of Defense Appropriations Bill

June 12, 2015

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Representative Mike Quigley (IL-05), a member of the House Appropriations Committee and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), released the following statement in response to the passage of the fiscal year 2016 Department of Defense appropriations bill (H.R. 2685):

"I am deeply disappointed in the 2016 Defense Appropriations bill, which uses unfair budgetary gimmicks to get around mandatory sequester cuts. If we provide relief for defense spending, then we should also lift sequester caps to fund our schools, roads and bridges, law enforcement, scientific research, and other domestic priorities critical to military families and all hardworking Americans. I firmly believe in a strong national defense, but instead of providing certainty to our military, this bill neglects caps on defense spending by adding tens of billions of dollars in base budget costs to off-budget war accounts, creates a massive hole in next year's budget, destabilizes long-term defense planning, and ignores domestic priorities. Congress needs to come together in a fiscally responsible way to protect our national security and grow our economy."

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