Hatch, Bennett, Bishop Blast Obama Budget

Sens. Orrin Hatch and Bob Bennett and Rep. Rob Bishop are unhappy with Pres. Obama's proposed 2011 budget and are especially critical of its cuts to the NASA manned space flight program, which could endanger Utah jobs. Says Hatch: "Besides leaving space exploration to the private sector or other nations, this budget proposal puts thousands of jobs at risk for Utahns who are working on the Ares I rocket." Says Bennett: "There is no question that our country is on the path toward a fiscal disaster. Although the president has pledged to take on the growing deficit, his budget proposal misses the mark completely and will do little to solve the problems." Says Bishop: "[Obama's decision not to fund the Ares I project] is especially devastating since we learned just last week that 450 employees at ATK were laid off due to the nation's current economic climate and previous bad decisions in Washington" (see Hatch, Bennett, and Bishop press releases).