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U.S. Sen. Robert Bennett urges bipartisan action on entitlements, defends ports sale handling amid criticism
Summary
U.S. Sen. Robert Bennett told the Utah Senate that unchecked growth in Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid threatens the federal budget and urged bipartisan, long-term reform; in Q&A he criticized the administration's handling of a ports lease to a Dubai-linked company but said the purchase was publicly reported and port security rests with federal agencies.
U.S. Sen. Robert Bennett visited the Utah State Senate and used his remarks Tuesday to press for long-term, bipartisan solutions to the federal budget’s mounting entitlement costs, saying Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid threaten to consume federal revenues if left unchecked.
"The first thing I’d say is we have three federal programs which, if we do not address and do something about in terms of their growth, will within the next 20 years, maybe less than that, take the entire federal budget," Bennett said, citing a $2.7 trillion federal budget and roughly $840 billion in discretionary spending.
Bennet…
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