After avoiding a government shutdown last Friday, the Senate was back in session in Washington this week to consider legislation to fund the rest of fiscal year 2011. The continuing resolution (CR) that passed the Senate yesterday with my support is projected to reduce our national deficit $315 billion over the next decade.

As I have said all along, the top priority for any budget or continuing resolution must be to cut back on our federal spending and reform the federal government.  While I would have preferred even greater cuts than what was included in yesterday’s CR, its passage was an important step toward getting Washington’s spending under control and eliminating barriers that are hurting job growth.

Our national debt has surpassed $14 trillion, and we currently borrow 41 cents of every dollar we spend.  We cannot continue to ignore the severity of our financial situation, and there are many more cuts and reforms to come in order to spur private sector job growth and get our country back on the right track.

With this fiscal year’s budget behind us, we can now focus on the important cuts and reforms needed in the 2012 budget and beyond.  I believe we need substantial cuts to government spending and reform of the entitlement programs.

This week, I attended a hearing focused on unemployment among veterans and cited the duplicative and often ineffective efforts of the federal government to assist them in finding jobs.
Despite the good will and hard work that many people are putting into helping veterans find employment, it is becoming increasingly apparent that many of the programs already in place are not working.  We need to figure out which programs are working well, which are not, and how reducing overlap among agencies can make these services more effective and efficient. These common-sense steps could save taxpayers' money and make long-term improvements in services for our nation's veterans.

We must also take immediate steps to bring down the staggering unemployment rate with simple solutions such as providing tax incentives to employers who hire veterans and making sure the skills and qualifications veterans develop during service are easily translatable into the civilian world.

Also in Veterans news, I am happy to welcome a new, expanded health clinic designed to serve veterans living in Wilmington, NC, and its surrounding area.  Specialty services provided at the new community based outpatient clinic (CBOC) include optometry, audiology, podiatry, and neurology along with primary care and mental health services.

This clinic has been a long time coming. Veterans living in the Wilmington area will soon have access to a wide variety of services and higher-quality care. I will continue to keep an eye on this clinic's progress to make sure it comes together in a responsible and timely manner.

Next week, the Senate will be in recess and I will be back in North Carolina traveling across the state.  My travels will take me to Forsyth, Wake, Sampson, Guilford, Johnston, Cabarrus and Mecklenburg counties to speak with students and tour small businesses in the area.
Stay tuned to my website and Facebook page, and follow me on Twitter for updates from North Carolina.  

Sincerely,

U.S. Senator Richard Burr

 To contact me, please visit my website.