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Gingrey
Contact: Becky Ruby (202) 225-2931


Gingrey advocates for offsets to pay for Hurricane Katrina spending
“We can’t let a natural disaster turn into a financial one”

Washington, Oct 12 -

U.S. Congressman Phil Gingrey today made the following comments regarding spending offsets for Hurricane Katrina relief:

“When disaster strikes, it is undoubtedly appropriate for the government to help citizens and communities rebuild. But it would be irresponsible governance to do so without an eye toward fiscal stewardship.

“I have urged House Leadership to find offsets in our mandatory spending, and to cut discretionary spending across the board. There are real savings to be found by trimming a little off everything we do. Just a 2 percent decrease across-the-board is projected to save as much as $17 billion.

“As a fiscal conservative, I know there are places where our bureaucracy is bloated and our programs are redundant and ineffective. I propose we identify these places, and pay our Katrina bills with the savings from cutting the “fat” out of our federal budget.

“We can't let the natural disaster of a hurricane turn into a financial disaster for our nation. Now is the time to treat our federal budget as we would our household budget. We need to make the tough decisions.”