Budget is not an arbitrary dollar figure

And at a time when our economy is struggling to recover from the worst recession in 70 years, just the few examples listed below show that the Republican cuts will cost at least 150,000 American jobs, thus increasing the unemployment rolls, instead of decreasing them. In such difficult times, the government has a responsibility to provide basic assistance to our workers who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own, ensure that our children do not go to bed hungry, and care for our heroes returning home from the battlefield. H.R. 1 would devastate our capability to meet those needs. 

Today’s America exists in a world that is both dangerous and competitive. If our nation is to maintain its unique status on the global stage, we must ensure that our security is protected both at home and abroad, that we out-innovate our competitors, that we preserve our nation for posterity by investing in both its infrastructure and people, and that we promote its welfare by helping those in need, particularly during these difficult economic times.  

In his State of the Union address, the President spoke of the need to ‘Win the Future.’ Innovation, infrastructure, security, and compassion for the least fortunate are essential components of this strategy. Every one of these areas will be adversely affected if the cuts proposed in H.R. 1 were to be enacted into law. We cannot win the future by gutting the very programs that make America competitive in the first place.