Portman statement in opposition to spending bill

U.S. Senator Rob Portman (R-Ohio), a member of the Senate Budget and Finance Committees, released the following statement on his vote against the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act of 2015:

“While I appreciate the hard work by colleagues to put this package together, it does not make the tough decisions necessary to restore fiscal responsibility and get our economy back on the right track.

“As I have noted before, I oppose the budget gimmicks called ChIMPS, or Changes in Mandatory Programs. These gimmicks allow Congress to count artificial offsets against new spending, thus circumventing the spending caps by about $19 billion.

“Moreover, these large ‘cromnibus’ bills are the wrong way to legislate and lead to last-minute, haphazard bills. Rather than implementing spending priorities through a 1,764-page ‘cromnibus’ bill that lawmakers have only had a few days to read – with no amendments allowed – Congress must get back to regular order, including passing individual appropriations bills based on a budget and with an open amendment process.

“I am pleased that the bill prioritizes funding for several projects important to Ohio workers and our national security, including the American Centrifuge Project in Piketon to develop our nation’s only domestic capability for enriching uranium crucial to our national security; the ongoing decommissioning and decontamination work at the former Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant; the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative which is a crucial tool for combating harmful algal blooms and for local protection and restoration efforts on Lake Erie; funding for improvements at our nation’s ports and harbors, which are suffering from insufficient dredging; funding for hospitals treating patients with Ebola; and the Lima tank plant, which plays a unique role in contributing to our national security as the only producer of the Abrams tank.”

Portman has spent years working with the Administration to support the unique national security capabilities of the American Centrifuge Project in Piketon. He also continues to work to prevent layoffs associated with environmental cleanup activities in Piketon and recently urged Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Ernest Moniz to work with Senate and House Appropriators on the necessary funding.

In a letter to Secretary Moniz, Portman urged the Administration to fulfill its 2010 commitment for an accelerated cleanup of the site that completes the project by 2024.

Portman is an original cosponsor of the Harbor Maintenance Act, which boosts funding for ports, harbors, and channels by requiring the Harbor Maintenance Tax to be used for its intended purposes.

Portman ensured that the 2012 transportation bill signed into law by the President included a provision pushing for proper use of the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund. Portman then followed-up on this legislative success by joining a bipartisan letter to OMB requesting more appropriate funding for America’s waterways system.

Portman has also introduced legislation to allocate funds to support the establishment of regional designated hospitals that can provide specialized care for Ebola patients in an isolated setting. Provisions of his bill were included in the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act of 2015.

Additionally, Portman has worked for funding for the Abrams tank plant in Lima. He recently urged the Chairs and Ranking Members of the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations to ensure that the nation’s tank industrial base is not needlessly jeopardized.