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“I fought tooth and nail for Iowa’s taxpayers in yesterday's House Appropriations Committee markup. I urged my Democratic colleagues to respect taxpayer dollars, but unfortunately the final bill that passed through the Committee prioritized expanding the size and scope of the federal government while ignoring the priorities of Iowans. While I could not support the final bill, I am glad it included my provision that would prevent Dubuque from losing its status as a metropolitan area, and I worked across the aisle to ensure this language was included. I’ll always fight for our district’s priorities, and to protect your hard-earned dollars from being abused and misspent.” -Congresswoman Ashley Hinson
In her opening remarks, Hinson urged her colleagues to respect taxpayer dollars and warned against the vast, taxpayer-funded government expansion included in the bill.
"Let’s use the Budget Committee and the entire Congressional budget process properly. Let’s allow that Committee to do its work of actually establishing budgetary levels to keep spending in check, instead of just ramming through a massive partisan spending plan that costs taxpayers trillions of dollars. We shouldn’t be deeming topline numbers and working backwards from there. It’s irresponsible. And it’s how we get to a place of mixed-up priorities."
"We have before us today a plan that vastly expands the size of the federal government – adding more than 50,000 new federal employees.
If you add up the population of Howard and Worth [Counties] and multiplied that by three, you still don’t get the number of people that the President wants to add – the number prioritized in these spending levels."
Full Remarks
Hinson introduced two amendments to the FSGG spending bill to protect life and prevent taxpayer funding of bureaucrats’ elective abortions.
Her first amendment would prohibit taxpayer funds from being used to pay for elective abortions for federal employees. This amendment received bipartisan support before being rejected by the majority of Democrats on the Committee.
"The Smith Amendment has prohibited elective abortion funding for federal employees since 1983. The ban includes exceptions for instances of rape, incest, or life of the mother. Let me be clear: elective abortion is not health care and there is no reason for a federal bureaucrat’s health plan to include it on the backs of hardworking Americans."
Full Remarks
Her second amendment would prevent taxpayer dollars from being used to pay for abortions in the District of Columbia by reinstating the Dornan Amendment.
"If this amendment fails and all restrictions on taxpayer funding of DC abortions are lifted, the Charlotte Lozier Institute estimates that approximately 1,400-1,500 abortions will be funded in DC each year. I believe we must stand up for the American taxpayer who opposes this kind of horrific spending."
Full Remarks
Hinson also worked across the aisle to ensure that a provision directing the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to reverse its proposed change of the definition of a Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) was included in the FY 2022 Financial Services and General Government Appropriations bill. The provision was passed by the Committee during the markup, meaning it will be included in the bill moving forward.
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