Scott Milburn Funding Quotations

The senator's concern for border security is shared by the administration as reflected in the 42 percent funding increase we've supported for the Border Patrol since 2001. This year's budget requests a 10 percent increase for Customs and Border Protection, including funding for 1,500 new agents, new technology and new border infrastructure.

As GAO states in its letter, OMB did not advise agencies to withhold funds and OMB staff specifically instruct agencies not to improperly withhold funding in the case of cancellations.

Instead, the president's subsequent budgets have increased funding for all of these programs. The country can meet the goal of cutting the deficit in half and still invest in key programs for vulnerable Americans, and claims to the contrary aren't supported by the facts of recent budget history.

By far the bulk of new funding 75% of it has been to restore the hollowed-out military the president inherited, strengthen homeland defenses after 9/11, and fight the war on terror. These are essential investments that were required ... to protect our nation.