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Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to H.R. 1 - legislation introduced by the House Republican majority that would cut over $60 billion in essential funding to America's communities without making a significant impact on this year's federal deficit.

Mr. Chairman, my amendment ends tens of millions of taxpayer dollars from being wasted on the sponsorships of NASCAR race cars by the Department of Defense.

With trillion dollar deficits this amendment is where the rubber meets the road for my Republican-Tea Party colleagues who want to cut wasteful spending.

Defense Department waste is nothing new. Many Americans remember in the 1980s when the Pentagon was spending $400 for a hammer and $600 for a toilet seat.

Now we have the Army spending $7 million for a decal on a racing car. Talk about taxpayer sticker shock!

First of all, to make clear, while the Congressman says his amendment eliminates the U.S. Forest Service's International Programs, it does not.

The amendment only calls for a reduction in the budget for the "Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, State and Private Forestry." Should this short-sighted amendment pass, the Agency would decide what within its budget to cut.

That being said, the gentleman from Kansas has unfairly maligned an important agency doing unsung work.

I rise today to let the American people—and all Minnesotans—know that this Continuing Resolution is an unprecedented assault on our public health and the environment.

We know the federal budget is in crisis.

We know we must make tough choices.

But those choices must be prudent, wise, and invest for our future. It should not put the basic health of Americans at risk.

The Republicans' plan before us proposes to cut $3 billion from the EPA's budget, the largest percentage cut to this critical agency in 30 years.