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Congressman Paul Tonko released the following statement after voting against the debt limit proposal that passed the House of Representatives this evening:

“I cannot support this job-destroying plan --  and the reasons are simple. It asks for sacrifice from the middle class, while protecting tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires, subsidies for big oil, and corporate tax loopholes. It threatens to weaken Medicare and Social Security benefits. And it calls for cuts in domestic spending that will send more people to the unemployment line and weaken the economy.

“Overwhelmingly, my constituents have been calling my office to demand a balanced solution with shared sacrifice rather than an assault on the middle class. They want to protect Medicare and Social Security  -- and they want us to take action to create more jobs. This plan bows to the will of ideological extremists and wealthy special interests. It ignores the will of the American people and will further deepen the jobs crisis that continues to be my district’s number one concern.”

“Two times over, I have voted in favor of plans to end this debacle, but I cannot vote for a bill that ends a manufactured default crisis by deepening a very real jobs crisis.”

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