Key Vote “NO” on H.R. 2272, the America COMPETES Act–Conference Report

 

On behalf of the nearly 850,000 FreedomWorks members nationwide, I urge you to VOTE NO on H.R. 2272, the America COMPETES Act– Conference Report. This bill would authorize over $43 billion over 3 years to fund at least 40 new federal programs for various agencies including the National Science Foundation, National Institute of Science and Technology, and the Departments of Commerce, Education and Energy. The size and scope of the funding that emerged from the conference report drastically exceeds the original House version where $23 billion was allocated for 20 new programs. What’s worse is that many of these programs repeat already established federal efforts. The GAO reports that in 2005, 13 different federal agencies spent nearly $2.8 billion on programs dealing with science, technology and other areas covered in H.R. 2272.

Enough is enough. This legislation not only represents another massive expansion of the size of government, but another glaring example of reckless, runaway spending. It is time lawmakers realize that they do not have free-reign with taxpayer dollars and that they must practice fiscal restraint. Just like hardworking American taxpayers, lawmakers in Washington D.C. must learn to live within a limited budget.

Congress needs to take the necessary steps to cut wasteful programs and restrain the size of government. H.R. 2272 is a giant jump in the wrong direction. It is time Congress ended its trend of fiscal irresponsibility and brought reform to our broken budget process. FreedomWorks will count your vote on H.R. 2272 as a KEY VOTE when calculating the FreedomWorks Economic Scorecard for 2007. The FreedomWorks Economic Scorecard is used to determine eligibility for the Jefferson Award, which recognizes members of Congress with voting records that support economic freedom.

Sincerely,

 

Matt Kibbe
President and CEO
FreedomWorks