Congressman Moulton Offers Two Amendments to Republican Budget

Washington, D.C. — Today, at the House Budget Committee mark-up of the Republican budget, Congressman Seth Moulton (D-MA), a member of the committee, offered two amendments. The first amendment provides funding to prepare students for 21st century jobs and the second protects the VA from future government shutdowns. Yesterday, House Republicans released their budget, an alternative to President Barack Obama’s budget announced earlier this year, and today the full committee met to discuss and finalize the bill before sending it to the House Floor for a vote. Upon reviewing the budget, Moulton vowed to try to find common ground with Republicans, but said he would not stray from his commitment to working families.

“The Republican House Budget fails to set our nation on the right path towards economic growth,” said Moulton. “When I took this office, I vowed to work in a bipartisan fashion and I’m committed to doing that. However, this budget fails to grow our economy and it deprives hard working families of the resources and support they need to succeed. While this budget, in its entirety, is bad for our working families, I am proud to offer two amendments that I believe will strengthen the bill in two key areas.”

Moulton's first amendment will invest $2 billion over the next ten years in mandatory funding to provide reliable federal support for career and technical education that helps prepare students for jobs in the competitive 21st Century workforce. Increased funding would be provided as part of the reauthorization of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act in support of President Obama’s goal that every student graduates from high-school ready for college and a career and that the United States leads the world in college completion by 2020.

"Across the country, technical and vocational schools are training the next generation to fill manufacturing and industrial jobs that will increase our competitive edge and grow the middle class,” said Moulton.  "Currently, many of these schools cannot expand their classes due to financial constraints - additional cuts will only marginalize these vital education institutions further. Investing in education is investing in our economy and our future."\

The second amendment offered by Moulton will restore funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs to the President’s requested level of $1.9 billion for FY16 and ensure that the services provided to our veterans will never be at risk in the event of a government shutdown.

"Protecting our veterans is not an option, it is our duty,” said Moulton  "We owe to past and present service members to provide them with quality health care, education and job training, and long-term treatment they have earned through their service to our nation.”

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