Video: Bishop Addresses Proposed Federal Cuts at Port Jeff Chamber Meeting

Rep. Tim Bishop D-Southampton came to the general membership meeting of the this morning at the to talk about how proposed cuts to the Federal budget may affect small businesses locally.

Bishop spoke at length about the possibility of up to 1,000 workers at Brookhaven National Lab being laid off if H.R. 1, the bill that passed the House of Representatives recently, also passes in the Senate and becomes law.

“H.R.1 would cut $61 Billion out of federal expenditures between now and September 30,” said Bishop.

The economic impact would be wide spread, according to Bishop because the bill also proposes closing down two high tech pieces of equipment at the lab. The equipment attracts over 3,300 scientists to the area annually Bishop said, which translates into lost revenue for small business who support both the workers and the visitors, not to mention the loss of intellectual and technological capital.

Watch our video to see Bishop as he addressed Chamber members on this issue.