Politics & Government

Rep. Moran: Fiscal Cliff Bill 'Wholly Inadequate'

Democratic Rep. Jim Moran says the new tax-cut legislation puts Northern Virginia on the chopping block.

Although feuding lawmakers on Capitol Hill finally reached a deal Tuesday night preventing the nation from diving off the now world-famous “fiscal cliff,” Northern Virginia Democratic Rep. Jim Moran is not happy with the new legislation.

Moran, who represents Virginia’s 8th District, called the bill “hastily crafted,” “wholly inadequate” and said the measure puts Northern Virginia “on the chopping block.”

Moran said the bill leaves the country with three more fiscal cliffs to negotiate over the next three months.

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“Each of these deadlines represents a major political battle in which nearly 40 percent of Northern Virginia's economy in terms of federal contracts and federal employees will be on the chopping block," he said. "Our leverage to strike a balanced deal will only be weaker in those coming battles following passage of this bill."

Final passage of the fiscal cliff bill Jan. 1 averted scheduled income tax rate increases and the spending reductions required by the sequestration process, according to a congressional summary of HR 8.

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Virginia Sens. Mark Warner and Jim Webb voted for the bill along with Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-11th), but Reps. Moran and Frank Wolf (R-10th) voted against it.

But Warner said in a statement that the “negotiated agreement does little to address our deficits and it does not raise enough revenue to put our country on a path to reduce our long-term debt."

Connolly said the measure “was not a perfect package, bit it is something that gets us by until we can tackle the larger issues in the next Congress.”

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