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You are here: Home > World > Top News US 'super-committee' fails to ink debt reduction
deal 0 Comment(s)Print E-mail China.org.cn, November 22, 2011
Adjust font size: The U.S. congressional "super- committee"
announced on Monday that the 12-member panel had failed to reach
a deal to slash US$1.2 trillion over the next decade.
Committee Co-chairs Rep. Jeb Hensarling (L) and Sen. Patty
Murray chat during a Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction
hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C., capital of the
United States, Nov. 1, 2011.
"After months of hard work and intense deliberations,
we have come to the conclusion today that it will not be possible
to make any bipartisan agreement available to the public before
the committee's deadline," U.S. Representative Jeb Hensarling
and Senator Patty Murray, co-chairs of the Joint Select Committee
on Deficit Reduction, said in a statement on Monday.
"Despite our inability to bridge the committee's significant
differences, we end this process united in our belief that
the nation's fiscal crisis must be addressed and that we cannot
leave it for the next generation to solve," noted the
statement.
"We remain hopeful that Congress can build on this committee's
work and can find a way to tackle this issue in a way that
works for the American people and our economy," it added.
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The powerful "super-committee" was created by a
bipartisan debt reduction deal in Aug. to tackle mounting
U.S. budgetary challenges.
"We are deeply disappointed that we have been unable
to come to a bipartisan deficit reduction agreement, but as
we approach the uniquely American holiday of Thanksgiving,
we want to express our appreciation to every member of this
committee, each of whom came into the process committed to
achieving a solution that has eluded many groups before us,"
according to the statement.
"Most importantly, we want to thank the American people
for sharing thoughts and ideas and for providing support and
good will as we worked to accomplish this difficult task,"
added the statement.
The panel is tasked to identify at least US$1.2 trillion
in deficit cuts by Nov. 23. Failure to do so will trigger
automatic spending cuts in defense and non-defense domestic
programs in a similar size starting in 2013.
The committee's failure to produce an ambitious debt reduction
package was in line with expectations, due to partisan intransigence
on thorny issues including tax increase for the rich and slashing
entitlements outlays.
Republican's unwillingness to raise the taxes for the wealthy
helped create the current stalemate, U.S. President Barack
Obama said at a White House press conference on Monday after
the release of the "super-committee" statement.
Both parties should step up efforts to produce a balanced
deal and put the nation's fiscal house in order, said Obama,
adding that he would veto any attempt to undo automatic spending
cuts that would start in 2013
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