Washington, D.C. – United States Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today released the following statement on President Donald Trump’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2021:
“I appreciate the president’s budget suggestions and will carefully consider his recommendations as Congress begins the process to fund the federal government for the next fiscal year. Under the Constitution, it is Congress’ job to set spending priorities and pass appropriations bills, and as a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, my priorities will continue to be making sure our national defense, national laboratories, the National Institutes of Health and national parks have the resources they need.
“I am encouraged to see the president is calling to end surprise medical billing. Ending surprise medical billing is a problem almost everyone wants fixed, and is a perfect example of how Congress and the president can work together to reduce out of pocket health care costs for patients.
“I am also glad to see the budget continues to include the president’s proposal to rebuild our national parks. The Restore Our Parks Act, legislation that I introduced with Senators Portman, Warner, and King, is based on the president’s proposal and will cut in half the maintenance backlog at our national parks. This legislation is the only way to address the deferred maintenance backlog in our 419 national parks, and the Trump Administration agrees.
Senator Alexander continued, “The budget proposes a major increase in career and technical education programs to help train more workers for our growing economy. The budget also gives low-income families more of the same choices that wealthier families already have for schooling their children by proposing new education tax credit scholarships to give families more choices to provide the best possible educational opportunities for their children.
“Finally, President Trump’s decision to embrace alternatives to storing nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain is welcome news. If we want a future with nuclear power that produces clean, cheap, and reliable energy and creates good jobs that keep America competitive in a global economy, then we have to solve the nuclear waste stalemate. There is bipartisan support for allowing consolidated nuclear waste storage at private facilities, and I look forward to working with the president to solve this problem.”
