Crapo Supports Bipartisan Budget Act

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) maintained his track record of supporting U.S. national defense and efforts to counter foreign intrusion and aggression, and today voted to support the Bipartisan Budget Act, which the Senate passed in a 67-28 vote.  He issued the statement below following the vote: 

“Although I am disappointed this budget agreement did not contain greater spending cuts, failure to enact it would have resulted in even greater spending.  That would have inevitably led to a supercharged partisan push for even higher spending and a drastically increased likelihood of the political weaponization of government shutdowns.  That, in turn, would have driven up spending and caused economic damage to hard-working Americans and their families. 

“Moreover, it would have badly damaged our military by driving up costs and reducing our investment in rebuilding our national defense.   Congress and the Administration have made a strong commitment over the last few years to rebuild and strengthen our national defense.  Short-term funding through a continuing resolution would result in unnecessary and detrimental cuts to our national defense, and sideline significant progresses already made to enhance and rebuild the military’s readiness.  One or more government shutdowns would have been even worse. This agreement protects and strengthens our national security. 

“Finally, the Bipartisan Budget Act applies to discretionary spending alone, which only accounts for approximately 30 percent of all government spending.  Mandatory and entitlement programs currently running on autopilot continue to drive the largest portion of our debt.  I have long maintained that Congress should stabilize and reform these programs in order to prevent overfunding and pending insolvency issues and will continue to work to achieve needed fiscal reforms to our out of control mandatory spending. 

“President Trump and this Congress have already enacted many policies that are helping our economy boom, and I will continue to work with the Administration to ensure long-term fiscal success for our nation.”  

As Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, Senator Crapo has frequently challenged Russian and Chinese aggression by enacting legislation to increase sanctions, hold foreign countries accountable and protect national security interests.  On July 30, 2019, Senator Crapo and Senator Mark Warner (D-Virginia) introduced the MICROCHIPS Act to guard against attempts by China to undermine U.S. national security by exploiting and penetrating U.S. supply chains. 

Introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on July 23, 2019, the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2019 will provide congressional appropriators with overall defense and non-defense discretionary spending limits for the next two fiscal years.  The House passed the measure on July 25, 2019, and it now heads to the White House for President Trump’s expected signature.

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