The House Budget Committee has voted to advance the FY 2013 budget blueprint released Tuesday by Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI). The budget contains proposed cuts to the federal workforce, increased pensions contributions, and an extended pay freeze through 2015.
The measure passed in a close 19-18 vote.
Two conservative Republicans voted against the Ryan plan because it did not cut the federal budget fast enough. Reps. Justin Amash (R-MI.) and Tim Huelskamp (R-KS.) voted against it. This contrasts last year when committee members voted unanimously in favor of the budget proposal.
The budget plan will now go before the House for a vote.
Speaking on passage of the resolution, Chairman Ryan said:
Elected representatives have a solemn obligation to help ensure that our children have more opportunity and inherit a stronger America than our parents gave us. The Democrat-controlled Senate has failed to pass a budget in over 1,000 days, while the President still refuses to offer credible solutions to the most predictable economic crisis in our history. Empty promises from Washington won’t pay our bills, strengthen our health and retirement programs, fix our economy or create jobs. Such irresponsibility will, however, lead to a debt crisis that will fundamentally change America for the worse. The Path to Prosperity budget tackles our generation’s greatest domestic challenge: reforming and modernizing government to prevent an explosion of debt from crippling our nation and robbing our children of their future.
I am proud of my colleagues on the House Budget Committee who worked together to write and advance this budget, which puts our nation’s finances on a path to balance and pay off the debt. Much work remains, but today we are happy to say we have taken another step on the path to prosperity.
Read more about the budget proposal in our other articles:
- Ryan Budget Blueprint Raises Pension Contributions
- GOP Budget Proposal Would Freeze Federal Pay Through 2015
