Rutherford Votes to Fund the Military, Irma Relief

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman John Rutherford (FL-04) released the following statement after voting in favor of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, a measure that boosts defense spending and provides disaster relief connected to Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria and the California wildfires. The bill passed in the House and Senate with bipartisan support and was signed into law by the President this morning.

Rutherford said, "We have delivered on our promise to reinvest in our military, which has suffered for too long from a lack of resources and the uncertainty created by sequestration policy. Funding our national defense addresses urgent readiness challenges, and ensures our troops have the resources they need to safely train and effectively execute their missions. The bill also provides funding for Florida's recovery from the devastating impacts of Hurricane Irma to help us rebuild our homes, businesses, farms, and coastlines stronger than before. Additionally, this budget deal enables targeted investments in urgent priorities, including funds for states to address the opioid crisis, resources to reduce the backlog in veterans' service claims, and increased support for NIH biomedical research to find more treatments and cures for debilitating diseases.

"I hope that this bipartisan initiative will put an end to the gamesmanship and governing by crisis that has unfairly held our military hostage in the past weeks. Our servicemen and women, and their families, deserve far better. We owe it to them to do our job and responsibly allocate resources so they succeed in keeping us safe at home and abroad."