Press Releases
Brendan Daly/Nadeam Elshami
202-226-7616
07/20/2007
Pelosi, Reid Call On Bush To Join Congress On Budget That Reflects America’s Priorities
Washington, DC—Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority
Leader Harry Reid today sent President Bush the following letter, requesting a
meeting to ensure the FY2008 appropriations bill funds America’s priorities:
July 20, 2007
The President
Dear Mr. President:
We write to request a meeting with you to see if we can
reach agreement on FY2008 appropriations issues and avoid a protracted battle
over relatively small differences.
As you know, Congress approved a bipartisan budget earlier
this year that would reach balance by 2012 while reinstating strong rules
against future legislation that increases the deficit. Although our respective budgets clearly reflect
many differences in priorities, we actually are remarkably close to agreement
about the overall level of spending. In
fact, the difference between our respective levels of total appropriations
amounts to less than one percent of the federal budget.
Many of our individual appropriations bills have also had
strong bipartisan support. Our committee
chairmen have worked closely with their minority members to develop spending
plans that build on your work where we agree, and reflect a broad, bipartisan
approach to the services the federal government provides.
Given our relatively minor difference over total spending
levels, we are hopeful we can quickly reach an agreement that funds
Thank you for your consideration and we look forward to
working with you.
Best regards,
Harry Reid
Nancy Pelosi