Rep. Comer: Americans will pay for Democrats' $3.5T budget proposal in taxes
Kentucky Rep. James Comer says the 'phony' bill would lead to higher taxes and more inflation.
GOP senators are pushing back on the Democrats’ "far-left budget" with amendments aimed at combating critical race theory in schools and backing the police.
Several Republican senators are introducing amendments during a "vote-a-rama" that started Tuesday, taking aim at progressive priorities included in Senate’s budget resolution for the 2022 fiscal year, which carries a $3.5 trillion price tag.
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, who serves as the chairman of the Senate Steering Committee, told Fox News: "Vote-a-rama is rare opportunity to cut through the smoke and mirrors to expose the Democrats' extreme policy agenda of open borders, Critical Race Theory, the Green New Deal, and mask and vaccine mandates. Just as significant, it’s an opportunity to highlight efforts by conservative senators to fight on behalf of the American people against that tyrannical agenda."
One such amendment was proposed by Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, who introduced the Put Families’ Safety Ahead of Politicians’ Private Security amendment Tuesday.
Ernst’s amendment would prevent politicians from using taxpayer dollars for private security until D.C. recognizes concealed carry permits in all 50 states. The amendment comes after recent revelations that progressive lawmakers who support defunding the police, including Squad Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo., use taxpayer dollars to fund their own private security details.
Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., proposed an amendment that would eliminate federal funding for local governments that defund the police.
Tuberville said in a press release that Americans "want safety and security" for both themselves and their loved ones, but that "safety and security are at risk" by local governments embracing "the dangerous rhetoric and policies of the ‘defund the police’ movement."
"More than 80% of all law enforcement in our country is conducted by state and local governments," the Alabama senator said. "These men and women who wear the badge are heroes who put their own lives on the line every day to protect their communities, and they deserve the full support of elected officials at every level of government."
Tuberville slammed the "woke rhetoric of ‘defund the police’" as dangerous and stated that "there is no reason federal taxpayers in Alabama or any other state should have to pick up the tab" when "local leaders in Minneapolis or Portland are so beholden to the radical Left" that they defund police.
"My amendment is simple: if a city council believes the ‘woke’ thing to do is to cancel the police department, then they shouldn’t expect the federal government to bail them out," Tuberville said.
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Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri also proposed a pro-law enforcement amendment that "would allow for the hiring of 100,000 new police officers" as well as other amendments aimed at restricting federal funding for K-12 schools that refuse to fully reopen, pushing back against critical race theory and pro-life policies.
"The Democratic Party is attempting to pass what could be the most radical left-wing legislation this country has ever seen — and they’re rushing it through Congress, hoping no one notices," Hawley said in a statement.
"Joe Biden and his allies in the Senate want to ram through a multi-trillion-dollar budget that lays the groundwork for their far-left agenda, like amnesty for millions of illegal immigrants, the Green New Deal, and a sweeping takeover of the American family by the federal government," he continued. "The Senate is not just a rubber stamp for this kind of insanity. I will make sure that my colleagues lining up to support this agenda are held accountable."
Republicans are also pushing for energy independence in their amendments, with Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis pushing to add her bill, the Protecting Our Wealth of Energy Resources (POWER) Act, to the budget bill.
"Since 2019, America has been energy independent," Lummus said in a press release. "We have covered our own needs for energy with our own production, and we can now export our cleaner energy to other nations."
Lummus said that Wyoming "has been at the forefront of this energy revolution" but the Biden administration and Democrats are looking to "tether" the U.S.’s energy future to Russia and OPEC instead of producing energy domestically.
"Their green dream is a real nightmare for Americans, from the oil well to the gas pump. At the same time, this green obsession is actually causing more pollution by bolstering foreign energy produced under lax environmental regulations," the Wyoming senator said.
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"This administration’s policies are actually doing more harm to our planet, and Americans are paying the price every day," she added.
The Senate began a vote-a-rama on the Democrats' budget proposal Tuesday, after passing the bipartisan infrastructure bill with 19 Republican votes. Senate staffers told Fox News that they anticipate the voting series will go on for hours.
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