Budget & Debt Reduction
Promoting Responsible Budgets and Restoring Fiscal Discipline
Senator Reed has a proven track record of fiscal responsibility. As the United States emerges from the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, Senator Reed is working hard to put our nation back on a sound fiscal course, while also laying the foundation for future economic growth and development.
Balancing the budget means making hard choices to align spending with revenues, and this effort must include reforming the tax code. Senator Reed took the tough votes in the 1990s to help balance the national budget and create record surpluses. He also opposed the unfunded Bush tax cuts skewed to the wealthiest, the costly war in Iraq, a prescription drug program that failed to negotiate costs with drug makers and left many seniors without coverage, and other special interest giveaways that squandered the hard fought surplus and led to record deficits.
To get our nation’s fiscal house in order Senator Reed supports ending wasteful expenditures, capping spending, and shared sacrifice. He understands that it is critical to fight for Pell Grants, Medicare, and other initiatives that are critical to Rhode Island families.
Read More »Key Priorities & Accomplishments
- Supported historic deficit-reduction packages and other steps that helped balance the budget—led to a projected ten-year surplus of $5.6 trillion in 2001—and enabled the U.S. government to pay down over $450 billion of public debt between 1998 and 2001.
- As the U.S. took extraordinary steps to prevent the collapse of the entire financial system and millions of job losses, Reed successfully fought to include a provision in the law giving taxpayers stock options in the firms they saved. Thanks to Reed’s law, as the banks repaid their original loans taxpayers earned more than $8.5 billion in additional dividends – money that would have otherwise been kept by the banks.
- Helped pass a bipartisan landmark defense procurement reform law to stop fraud and wasteful spending at the Pentagon and prevent hundreds of billions in cost overruns.
- Voted against costly, special interest giveaways to big oil and agri-businesses.
The Latest
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Reed Statement on the President’s FY 2014 Budget Request
U.S. Senator Jack Reed, a member of the Appropriations Committee, today issued the following statement on the release of the President’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2014 budget request: “This budget is a mixed bag. It includes some smart pro-jobs, infrastructure, and...
Posted on 4/10/2013 | -
Senate Passes Stopgap Appropriations Bill
By a vote of 73 to 26, the U.S. Senate today passed a stopgap Appropriations bill to avoid a government shutdown. U.S. Senator Jack Reed warned that deep federal cuts due to the sequester will hurt the economy if Congress doesn’t work together to support job-creating pol...
Posted on 3/20/2013 | -
Reed Discusses Impact of Sequester
Posted on 2/27/2013 | -
Reed Speaks on Impact of Sequester
Madam President, I rise as chairman of the Interior Appropriations Subcommittee to highlight the urgency and importance of addressing sequestration. These imminent cuts will have real impacts on the environment and on thousands of jobs related to infrastructure investment and environmental protection....
Posted on 2/27/2013 | -
Reed Questions Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke
Posted on 2/26/2013 | -
Reed Speaks on Income Inequality and Budget Debate
Madam President, I rise today to speak about the real-world consequences of failing to achieve a fair and balanced solution to avert the automatic tax hikes and spending cuts that would otherwise occur at the end of December--the end of this month. Failing to continue unemployment insurance, allowing tax...
Posted on 12/14/2012 | -
Reed Votes to Eliminate Subsidies for Big Sugar
In an effort to protect consumers and save U.S. taxpayers millions of dollars annually, U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) today voted for a bipartisan initiative to phase out the controversial sugar price-support program, which artificially raises sugar prices for families and businesse...
Posted on 6/13/2012 |
