Jeff Bingaman United States Senator from New Mexico

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman today applauded President Obama's plan for reducing the nation's deficit.  After the president's speech, Bingaman released the following statement:

"President Obama's proposal stands in sharp contrast to other deficit reduction plans that place too much of the burden on the middle class and seniors.  I applaud the president's leadership in acknowledging that we cannot fix our deficit problems with budget cuts alone.  And I agree with him that if we're going to get the deficit under control, we need to consider all options – both spending cuts and revenue increases.  I also agree that whatever steps we take must protect investments that we need to make in education and innovation so that our economy can continue to grow.

"Reducing our nation's deficit will require Congress to set aside partisan bickering and get down to work.  The sooner we do that, the sooner we can begin to address what I believe is one of the most important issues facing our country."