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Cleveland
Plain Dealer...
Sherrod
Brown blasts Republicans for
‘cuts’ -- the same ones President Obama wanted
By Stephen Koff, The Plain Dealer
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
WASHINGTON,
D.C. — U.S. Sen. Sherrod
Brown on Wednesday blasted Republicans in the House of Representatives
for
passing a bill that would create “draconian” cuts in aid for local
firefighters
-- cuts that effectively are a “punch in the stomach for first
responders,” the
Ohio Democrat said.
Brown
neglected to mention: The House
bill would provide the same amount of money for firefighter grants,
$670
million, that President Barack Obama wanted.
That
still represents a 19 percent cut
from current firefighter grants, used by local communities to buy
equipment and
hire staff.
But
because of efforts by an Ohio
House Republican, Steve LaTourette of Bainbridge Township, the House
bill wound
up with significantly more money than firefighters had been poised to
get.
Organizations including the International Association of Fire Fighters
and International
Association of Fire Chiefs praised the final House measure, which
passed on
June 2.
Yet
Brown criticized Republicans for
the $670 million sum. He addressed Obama’s matching budget request for
$670
million only when a reporter asked why he was limiting his criticism to
the
GOP.
“I
disagree with the president on
this, as I disagreed with the president’s trade announcements
recently,” he
said. “I think they’re both wrong. We’re just asking that these grants
be
funded at what they were last year.”
The
senator’s remarks about
“draconian” cuts and the “punch in the stomach” were made during a
telephone
news conference. They drew rebukes from GOP lawmakers and their party,
which
regards Brown’s seat as a target for possible takeover in the 2012
election.
“Apparently,
the senator has been busy
with other matters and missed the news,” said LaTourette, who with New
Jersey
Democratic Rep. Bill Pascrell authored the amendment to bring the
grants up to
the president’s requested level from a version of the spending bill
containing
only $350 million. “President Obama asked for this level, the
firefighters
signed off on this level,” LaTourette said. “Only people in the ‘other
body’
running in 2012 seem confused.”
Brittany
Bramell, spokeswoman for
House Speaker John Boehner, a West Chester Republican, said Brown’s
remarks
illustrate “how hard it is to break through the partisan rhetoric and
change
the status quo in Washington.”
Read
it at the Cleveland Plain Dealer
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