WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Interior, Environment & Related Agencies, today issued the following statement after voting against final passage of the 2015 Omnibus Appropriations bill to fund the government through September 2015:

“When you have divided government, neither side is going to get everything they want, but you work together to try and reach a principled compromise.  For months, I have worked hard alongside Chairwoman Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Ranking Member Richard Shelby (R-AL), and our colleagues on the Senate Appropriations Committee to craft a bipartisan, balanced agreement to fund the government and strengthen our economy.

“We put together a compromise appropriations package making critical investments in creating jobs and improving our infrastructure.  While imperfect, the bill includes federal funds I advocated for that will help boost economic and community development projects in Rhode Island, as well as key education, transportation, and environmental initiatives.

“But regrettably, several extraneous and objectionable policy provisions were inserted into the bill outside of the established process, and without thorough consideration and debate.

“These last minute additions include changes of a nature that demand the highest and most transparent level of consideration.  Laws that impact pension recipients, provisions to weaken Wall Street reforms, and a roll back of campaign finance laws are not appropriations matters.  They are significant changes, and their inclusion here further erodes people’s faith in government.

“Because we were unable to strip out these harmful provisions, I opposed final passage.  Simply put, these particular riders are a bad deal for the middle-class and the American people deserve better.”

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