WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Congressman French Hill (AR-02) released the following statement after the House passed H.R. 3877, the Bipartisan Budget Act, by a vote of 284-149:
“Today, I supported H.R. 3877 in order to fulfill the commitment to our servicemen and women to rebuild desperately needed military readiness. Under the Obama Administration, I witnessed firsthand the destructive results in Arkansas of abandoning military readiness at the Little Rock Air Base and Camp Robinson. Former Defense Secretary James Mattis echoed this priority saying no enemy in the field has done more to harm the readiness of the U.S. military than unpredictable defense funding.
“The compromise passed by the House today reflects many of the priorities communicated to me by central Arkansans, including prohibiting federal funding for abortion, improving veterans’ access to health care, and giving the president the necessary resources required to bolster security infrastructure on our southwest border.
“However, following today’s House vote, I wrote to the president telling him of my disappointment that this spending bill, like the many before it, continues to ignore the unimpeded growth of the largest drivers of our debt: the mandatory spending programs of Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. In my nearly five years of service representing central Arkansans, my greatest disappointment is the lack of bipartisan leadership in tackling reforms of our mandatory spending programs. Now at 72% of all federal spending, our nation deserves leadership from the president and Congress to develop innovative, bipartisan solutions to ensure programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security are financially stable for future generations.”
