Washington, DC—July 20, 2022....Congressman Steve Womack (AR-3), a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee—where he serves as the Ranking Member of the Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) Subcommittee and also sits on the Defense and Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) Subcommittees—voted against the Democrats’ six-bill minibus spending package on the floor. The flawed legislation, which includes out-of-control topline allocations and partisan riders, will not be signed into law as written.  

Congressman Womack said, “Today’s vote is an unfortunate exercise in futility. When a continuing resolution is all but guaranteed after the consideration of appropriations legislation, you have failed. The proposal is fiscally irresponsible and endorses a list of liberal priorities. Both sides know it will never become law in current form. With debt in excess of $30 trillion and inflation making it harder for Americans to make ends meet, we can’t further mortgage taxpayers and future generations. I stand ready to work with my Democrat colleagues to make appropriate adjustments and deliver on our core duty to responsibly fund the government.”

Womack will not support appropriations bills until problematic provisions are removed and spending levels are amended. Yesterday, he rose on the House floor to outline the harmful allocations of the majority party’s proposal, noted the impact of rapid inflation, and called for House and Senate leaders to come together to amend the package and reach a bipartisan compromise. He also proposed and supported multiple amendments—including measures to combat inflation, lower high gas prices, secure the border, address the infant formula crisis, stop taxpayer funded crack pipes, support small businesses, hold our adversaries accountable, and prevent wasteful spending—to revise currently unworkable bills. Unfortunately, the Democrats rejected a majority of these commonsense changes on party-line votes.

Womack has consistently advocated for solutions to fix the broken budget and appropriations process, which has failed the American people for too long. He co-chaired the Joint Select Committee on Budget and Appropriations Process Reform and introduced bipartisan, bicameral legislation to modernize and streamline current processes. Some of the reforms he supported would have helped prevent the current budget and appropriations dysfunction being experienced. Additionally, he called for moving to a biennial budget, ensuring realistic deadlines for Congress to complete its budget and appropriations work, and requiring a joint Budget Committee hearing on the Fiscal State of the Nation. The FY2019 budget Womack authored as the Chairman of the House Budget Committee was the last comprehensive fiscal blueprint produced by the House Budget Committee.

Congressman Steve Womack (AR-3) has represented Arkansas’s Third Congressional District since 2011. He is a member of the House Appropriations Committee.

womack.house.gov

###