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Shaheen: Budget Deal A 'Down Payment' Toward Nation's Financial Issues

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New Hampshire U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen says the Senate should pass the two-year budget plan the House passed by a wide margin last week.

Speaking at BAE Systems in Nashua Monday morning, Senator Shaheen says it’s not a perfect deal, but it’s a down payment toward addressing the nation’s financial issues.  

“It’s not a big deal. It doesn’t get us where we need to go as far as paying down this country’s debt and dealing with our annual deficits. But it does make some progress in that direction.”

Shaheen says the deal provides certainty for the next two years and restores some of the automatic spending cuts made through sequestration.

U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte has said she won’t support the deal, specifically taking issue with cuts to military retiree benefits.

Shaheen says she’s also concerned about those cuts, but insists the nation can’t afford another government shutdown.

“There are things in it I’m not crazy about. There are things not in it that I would like to see in it. But I think it is a compromise.”

The Senate is expected to take up the budget on Tuesday.

Michael serves as NHPR's Program Director. Michael came to NHPR in 2012, working as the station's newscast producer/reporter. In 2015, he took on the role of Morning Edition producer. Michael worked for eight years at The Telegraph of Nashua, covering education and working as the metro editor.
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