"Today's vote is exactly why I could not bring myself to believe the words of our President when he spoke about compassion and a new direction for the American people," said Congressman Berry. "We should be outraged that our Republican leaders can applaud compassion one day and turn around the next to pass a bill that harms low-income families."

Although Republican leaders claim the package will cut spending, it only covers some of the $56 billion in tax cuts Republicans intend to bring to the floor over the next few weeks. Once the tax cuts are approved, the deficit will actually increase by approximately $17 billion. Republican leaders asked each committee to vote on a series of cuts, with the largest reductions including $11.9 billion from student loans, $6.9 billion from Medicaid and SCHIP, $6.4 billion from Medicare, and $2.7 billion from agriculture programs.

The budget reconciliation conference report contains a number of special interest deals struck in closed-door talks including over $42 billion in handouts to the pharmaceutical and health insurance industries. Republicans included these additional handouts even though the drug and insurance companies failed to implement the Medicare Prescription drug benefit without dropping seniors from the Medicaid rolls.  

"Corporate America has made its way into the halls of Congress and is robbing Americans of their voice in the political process," said Congressman Berry. "Our seniors deserve the full respect of their elected leaders regardless of whether they contribute millions of dollars to a congressional campaign."

Today's vote is the final step in the congressional budget reconciliation process. Once the President signs the document, the measure becomes law.