APOPKA – Attending a town hall meeting hosted by the East Side Tea Party, U.S. Rep. Sandy Adams, R-Florida, blasted record budget deficits in Washington and promised to work hard to cut federal spending.
“We’re more than a record $14 trillion in debt,” Adams said. “We’re set to hit a $1.6 trillion deficit this year. We have to get control of our debt.”
But in a sign of just how challenging it will be for even the new Republican majority in Congress to make steep budget cuts, Adams promised to fight to protect the funding for a key federally-funded program in her 24th Congressional District, the NASA space program, which the Obama administration had targeted for reductions.
“Human space flight is a job creator and an economic driver,” Adams said, adding that she serves on the U.S. House of Representative’s Space, Science and Technology Committee, which oversees NASA funding.
“We have fought for human space flight,” she said. “President Obama’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2012 puts priority on unnecessary initiatives such as a billion dollars in climate change research.”
The meeting at Apopka City Hall drew a large crowd on a Saturday afternoon, and the crowd was hihgly receptive to complaints about big spending in the nation’s capitol. Adams did little to disappoint them.
“It’s no secret that Washington has issues,” she said. “Washington is broken. We have a deficit. We have debt.”
Adams said she was tired of hearing Democrats complain that the GOP majority in Congress was hoping to shut down the federal government by refusing to pass a budget in a timely manner. She denied that.
“It is our intention to continue funding the government – at a reduced level,” she said. “We have said all along that we need to reduce our spending. It is now up to the Senate and the Senate leader, Harry Reid, to decide if they want to work on the same thing.”
In addition to reigning in congressional spending, Adams said she was worried about the nation’s high unemployment rate, at 9 percent in January, and Florida’s even higher jobless rate of 12 percent.
“Unemployment has remained above or beyond 9 percent for 21 months,” she said. “We’re in unprecedented times, and it is important that Congress focus on getting our nation back on track and getting people back to work.”
In addition to protecting NASA spending from possible budget cuts, Adams said her top priorities would be to repeal the “job killing” health care law — which she said could “bankrupt our state” — and to amend the Internal Revenue Service code of 1986 to make permanent the deductions of state and local general sales taxes.
“As you know, we don’t have an income tax (in Florida), so we don’t have the ability to deduct that on our tax forms,” Adams said, adding that it would be fair to allow Floridians to deduct what they spend on the state’s sales taxes.
Adams also promised to work on creating jobs, both by repealing the health care law and by reducing federal regulations on businesses.
“This is not a Democratic or Republican issue,” she said.
She also promised to reach out to her constituents on a regular basis.
“My staff and I are here to help you and work with you on any issues you have,” she said.
To reach Adams, call her Oviedo office at 407-977-7601 or in Washington at 202-225-2706.

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