Wes Hickman (202) 224-5972 or Kevin Bishop (864) 250-1417

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) today was one of twenty Senators to vote against the Supplemental Appropriations Act. The Senate vote was 78-20. The supplemental is meant to fund emergency spending priorities outside the normal appropriations process. “The Republican Party of old cared about numbers when it came to spending. It’s long past time our Republican majority gets back to our fiscally conservative roots. A perfect place for us to start was with a supplemental spending bill where some spending priorities defied any rational definition of being an emergency.” Graham recently signed a letter to President Bush with thirty-four other senators, including South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint, saying he would vote to sustain a presidential veto if the supplemental bill spends more than the President’s $94.5 billion request. Thirty-four votes are needed to sustain a presidential veto. The final bill passed by the Senate contained $108.9 billion in spending. “I completely agree with President Bush’s view that $94.5 billion should be our outer limit on spending in this bill to rebuild the Gulf Coast and fund the War on Terror,” said Graham. “I will enthusiastically support a presidential veto if the bill comes out of the House-Senate conference over $94.5 billion.” ###