Statement on Senate Passage of the Fiscal Year 2010 Budget

Tonight the Senate has joined the House of Representatives in taking an important step toward rebuilding our struggling economy. This budget resolution embraces our most fundamental priorities: an energy plan that will end our dependence on foreign oil and spur a new clean energy economy, an education system that will ensure our children will be able to compete in the economy of the 21st century, and health care reform that finally confronts the back-breaking costs plaguing families, businesses, and government alike. And by making hard choices and challenging the old ways of doing business, we will cut in half the budget deficit we inherited within 4 years. With this vote comes an obligation to pursue our efforts to go through the budget line by line, searching for additional savings. Like the families we serve, we must cut the things we don't need to invest in those we do.