Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Jim Risch issued this statement regarding President Obama's proposed budget:

"I am shocked at the amount of spending that is occurring here in Washington. Last fall Congress approved $700 billion for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), earlier this month Congress spent $787 billion more on the so-called stimulus package and just this week the House approved a current fiscal year spending bill that brings this year's total to $1 trillion. In these difficult economic times Congress approved 6.7 percent more in spending over the previous year, and that doesn’t include the TARP and stimulus spending. When families lose income, they reduce their spending. When the Federal government loses revenue, Congress spends more!

"Today the President rolled out his spending plan that is over $3.5 trillion dollars. All of this is an incredible spending spree without any real idea or plan on how to pay it back. I recognize that we are in a unique situation in our economic history, but we still must maintain some sense of fiscal accountability. Unfortunately, that is not happening and we are in the midst of making life much more difficult for future generations."