WASHINGTON, D.C. –U.S. Senator Angus S. King, Jr. (I-Maine), a member of the Senate Budget Committee, released the following statement today after the Budget Committee debated and approved the Fiscal Year 2014 budget blueprint introduced yesterday:

“Today was a good day. After nearly ten hours of debate and deliberation, the Committee’s approval of the FY ’14 budget is a significant step not only toward returning to regular order here in the Senate, but also toward putting our nation back on a path to fiscal stability and certainty.

“While I’m pleased with the progress we’ve made, it’s clear that reservations on both sides of the aisle still exist. I spoke to those reservations during the markup when I asked Ranking Member Sessions and my fellow colleagues how we can best craft a budget that garners bipartisan approval. At the heart of my question was how we could improve the process in order to improve legislation.  I was encouraged to hear that, while today’s budget was approved along partisan lines, there will be room for more negotiation and compromise in the future – because bipartisan legislation is better legislation. We saw the beginning of those compromises today when we adopted by voice vote several bipartisan amendments, proving that there is room to reach agreement and move forward together.

“As I said yesterday, I certainly see value on both sides of the debate as well as the good intentions of the Senators making their respective arguments.  I look forward to continuing to work on the budget next week as it’s considered by the full Senate so that we can create jobs and grow our economy while also addressing our long-term fiscal health.”

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