WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Thad Cochran and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) are among 64 Senators who are calling on President Obama to engage in broad bipartisan talks on a comprehensive deficit reduction plan.

The Mississippi Senators signed a letter, spearheaded by Senators Mike Johanns (R-Neb.) and Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), that is intended to send the White House a clear signal that there is significant and bipartisan support in the Senate to develop a deficit reduction plan that deals with mandatory entitlement spending and tax reform.  The letter sent to the White House late last week was signed by 32 Republican Senators and a like number of Democrats.

“Presidential participation is needed if we are to make substantial progress in gaining control of the federal deficit.  Simply cutting discretionary spending in FY2011, 2012 and beyond is not enough to put our fiscal house in order.  A broader plan is required,” said Cochran, vice chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

“Our national debt will total more than $14.1 trillion by the end of the year, and our current path is unsustainable,” said Wicker.  “Difficult decisions must be made.  If we fail to act, our children and grandchildren will be left with this burden.  The President should work with Congress to address the problems we face.”

The letter to Obama notes efforts by a separate bipartisan group of Senators to craft a deficit reduction agreement based on the recommendations made by the presidentially-appointed Fiscal Commission.

“By approaching these negotiations comprehensively, with a strong signal of support from you, we believe that we can achieve consensus on these important fiscal issues.  This would send a powerful message to Americans that Washington can work together to tackle this critical issue,” the Senators wrote.

The following is the text of the letter:

Dear President Obama:

As the Administration continues to work with Congressional leadership regarding our current budget situation, we write to inform you that we believe comprehensive deficit reduction measures are imperative and to ask you to support a broad approach to solving the problem.

As you know, a bipartisan group of Senators has been working to craft a comprehensive deficit reduction package based upon the recommendations of the Fiscal Commission.  While we may not agree with every aspect of the Commission’s recommendations, we believe that its work represents an important foundation to achieve meaningful progress on our debt.  The Commission’s work also underscored the scope and breadth of our nation’s long-term fiscal challenges. 

Beyond FY2011 funding decisions, we urge you to engage in a broader discussion about a comprehensive deficit reduction package.  Specifically, we hope that the discussion will include discretionary spending cuts, entitlement changes and tax reform.

By approaching these negotiations comprehensively, with a strong signal of support from you, we believe that we can achieve consensus on these important fiscal issues.  This would send a powerful message to Americans that Washington can work together to tackle this critical issue.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

###