Budget

One of the main responsibilities of Congress is to determine how taxpayer dollars are distributed throughout the nation. I work hard to make sure that programs that will help the Ninth District receive adequate funding. It is important that we ensure economic security for hard-working American families and small businesses by providing adequate funding for our nation’s transportation projects, Social Security and Medicare, and medical research.

I am proud to have supported budgets that prioritize job creation, financing public investments, strengthening the middle and working classes, and raising adequate revenue to meet budgetary needs while simultaneously restoring fairness to the tax code, protecting social insurance programs, and ensuring fiscal sustainability for years to come.  

Public Investments

In 2015, I voted in favor of the bipartisan Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2016, which secured funding for important government programs, such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).  It extended the Wind Production Tax Credit (PTC) through 2019, delayed the implementation of the “Cadillac Tax” until 2020, and made additional investments in Head Start and early childhood development, among many other provisions. Also, I am proud to have secured an extra $4 million in the budget to help reduce the backlog of untested rape kits in Memphis.

In 2014, I supported the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) budget when it was offered as a substitute to the Republican Budget. The CPC budget would have made significant investments aimed at getting Americans back to work. These investments would have created jobs, repaired and modernized our nation’s roads, bridges, and water infrastructure, fostered investment in teachers and schools, and provided training programs for the nation’s unemployed.

Protecting Medicare and Social Security

I have consistently voted to protect funding for Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security to ensure that these programs remain solvent for future generations. I will not vote to make severe cuts to these programs because I believe that given our current economic climate it would be inhumane of us to not provide aid to those individuals who need it the most.

Scale Back Tax Cuts

While I wish to see the United States return to a fiscally responsible budget, I do not believe that we should attempt to balance our budget by asking the poor and the middle class to contribute more than wealthier Americans. I continue to believe that the only realistic way to balance our nation's budget is to scale back needless business subsidies and end the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. By requiring the wealthiest to pay their fair share we could put America on track for a balanced budget without putting a burden on the middle class.