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On April 30, the plenary session of the House of Representatives voted unanimously to pass the first supplementary budget for fiscal 2011.
Prior to the vote, Chair of the Committee on Budget Hiroshi Nakai reported on the committee debate on the legislation. Following this, DPJ Diet member Kenta Izumi made a speech in favour of the legislation.
First, Izumi expressed condolences for those who had lost their lives in the Great East Japan Earthquake and sympathy for the survivors of the disaster. He also expressed sincere appreciation to the SDF troops, firefighters, police officers, the coast guard, local authorities, private companies, NGOs, NPOs and individual volunteers who had been working tirelessly in the relief effort, and to all those from around the nation who had donated money and material supplies.
With regard to the three bills that make up the supplementary budget legislation, Izumi said, “Currently, many people are continuing to suffer from the effects of the earthquake and tsunami, the nuclear accident, and unfounded rumours. Screams of anguish can be heard from those who have lost family members, homes and hometowns. I am deeply moved by the sight of survivors of the disaster who, despite facing such devastating conditions, honour the importance of human ties, helping each other, supporting each other, encouraging each other, and trying to get back on their feet again. The government and the Diet must recognize the situation in the affected areas, and make every effort toward providing ongoing assistance and help with rebuilding people’s lives. It is this supplementary budget that sets forth our response to reconstruction efforts.”
Izumi stressed the importance of responding to the urgent calls for help from the affected areas by enacting the supplementary budget as soon as possible, stating that this legislation would be a first step on the road to a speedy recovery.
Izumi said that the main projects to be funded by the supplementary budget were living and welfare fund loans, condolence money for victims, disaster-relief related funding such as that for the construction of emergency housing, as well as funding for public works projects relating to disaster relief such as disposal of debris, and the reconstruction of roads, ports, and lifelines, the reconstruction of school facilities and social welfare facilities such as medical and care facilities, and the provision of the necessary funding, including disaster-related loans, for small and medium-sized businesses. He went on to explain that in order to preserve the confidence of international markets in Japan, funding for these projects would be obtained by reviewing spending and not by issuing additional government bonds.
The first supplementary budget is currently being debated in the House of Councillors and looks likely to be enacted on May 2.
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