Friday, February 13, 2009

Shimkus Votes Against Bloated Stimulus

From the Office of Congressman John Shimkus

Washington, DC...Congressman John Shimkus (R, Illinois-19) issued the following statement after voting against (as did every Republican) the so called "stimulus" Conference Report (HR 1):

"While I fully acknowledge the pain that many families are feeling if they are currently unemployed or are facing financial difficulties, I cannot support spending over one trillion dollars of those same families and all of our money in future taxes.

"The Democrats' bill that passed creates far fewer jobs than the alternative version I supported, but we were never given an opportunity to even vote on an alternative. The legislation I support would have limited the stimulus bill to tax cuts, infrastructure projects, and help for the unemployed - items that really create jobs, not just spending money on pet programs.

"This legislation hardly meets any of our nation's infrastructure needs. It spends less nationwide on roads and bridges than the state General Assembly is considering for Illinois alone. In addition, language requiring companies to verify citizenship of employees was removed, which could allow illegal workers to benefit from taxpayer funded projects.

"I have been hearing from my constituents, and they overwhelmingly said to reject this massive spending bill. I agreed with them and voted no."

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