Cooper, Blue Dogs Urge House Leaders To Pass Big, Bipartisan Budget Deal

WASHINGTON— Co-chairs of the fiscally conservative, Democratic Blue Dog Coalition—Reps. Jim Cooper (TN-05), Kurt Schrader (OR-05), John Barrow (GA-12) and Jim Matheson (UT-04)—today sent a letter to House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) reaffirming the Coalition's commitment to tackling our nation's long-term debt and deficit problems and offering support for a comprehensive budget solution.

"Congress cannot continue to approach long-term deficit reduction in piecemeal fashion," the letter read. "We simply must stop living from crisis to crisis. It is no way for a superpower to govern and continues to cause permanent economic damage to our country.

"Blue Dogs are committed to working with our leaders to end the government shutdown and prevent defaulting on our nation's debt for the first time in history.

"It's time for governing, not gridlock. Let's seize this opportunity to break this unhealthy cycle."

The full text of the letter may be found here.

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