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By Jim McNally | Statesville R&L

Published: June 24, 2009

U.S. Congresswoman Virginia Foxx joined most of her fellow Republicans in voting against the $106 billion appropriations bill that ultimately passed a House of Representatives vote last week.

Foxx said she was all for the bulk of the bill — that being the $80 billion of supplemental spending on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan — but had issues with the rest of it.

The most objectionable of which is $5 billion earmarked for International Monetary Fund, which will loan money to poor countries impacted by the recession.

Foxx's position is that the IMF funds and other monies money should not have been included in this bill.
"I support the funding in this bill for our troops," Foxx said in an e-mail to the R&L. "But I do not support the completely unrelated spending that was shoe-horned into this bill by the Senate."

Foxx added, "If this IMF money was so important, why not make it a stand-alone bill? Billions in taxpayer dollars for the IMF have no business 'porking' up a military funding bill."

Foxx also made note of $1 billion included in the bill for a program that has become known as "Cash for Clunkers," through which car owners would be able to receive vouchers of up to $4,500 to be used to purchase more fuel-efficient vehicles than the ones they currently own.

Foxx called the voucher program "highly dubious."

Foxx voted for a supplemental funding bill in May, but her press secretary Aaron Groen said amendments made by the Senate since then made the bill one she could not support.
"A lot can happen to a bill in a month, eh?" Groen said.

The final version of the bill passed the House by a vote of 226-202 and the Senate by 91-5 count.
Both North Carolina senators Kay Hagan, a Democrat, and Richard Burr, a Republican, voted for the bill.

Like Foxx, 10th District Rep. Patrick McHenry voted against the bill.