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Panetta Statement on President Trump’s Proposed 2018 Federal Budget

March 16, 2017

WASHINGTON – Today, Congressman Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.) released the following statement in response to President Trump's proposed 2018 federal budget:

"If implemented, President Trump's 2018 budget request would take vital services away from American families and workers in order to pay for a large, indiscriminate increase in military and homeland security spending.

"It is important to provide sufficient funding to defend our country, but it should not be at the expense of diplomacy and foreign aid. This request targets peacekeeping operations and other multilateral development programs by cutting these critical national security tools by nearly one third. Furthermore, it is troubling that this proposal does not properly outline how the defense and homeland security increases would be distributed.

"To pay for these defense increases, the proposed budget would cut the U.S. Department of Agriculture budget by 21%. This would significantly impact agricultural research and water programs, as well as the National Forest Service. It is appears that this Administration does not understand how important farm programs are for America.

"Additional budget cuts would severely impact job training, housing assistance programs, and federal work-study programs. They would diminish research of lifesaving cures and treatments for diseases, drastically reduce in the federal workforce, and greatly decrease spending for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

"I cannot support any budget that harms hardworking American families, rural communities, students, patients, agriculture industries, protected federal lands, and our environment."