Date: 2011-04-14
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Chairman. unlike the gentleman from Wisconsin who just doesnt know what to do and seems to be confused on his side of the aisle as to what his budget is all about. I will say that I am getting unconfused because his budget is a destruction of the fabric and the way of life of all Americans. Do you want to know what the Republican budget does? It cuts food assistance for struggling families. it takes away affordable health care coverage for working families. and. of course. it dismantles the health care safety net. But also. it deals with the education of our children. As the cochair and founder of the Congressional Childrens Caucus. let me show you what happens when we dont educate our children. We can see the numbers of individuals who are unemployed who have not had a high school degree. Our friends and the Republican budget are going to cut education. and theyre going to wind up with increasing unemployment because you can see that less of our Americans are being able to go to college. and. therefore. without college. without a high school education. we just undermine a growing childs opportunity. Let me tell you what else we do. We go from children to their grandparents. I remember standing on the floor of this House trying to prevent the doughnut hole from coming about. but Republicans again established a doughnut hole that millions of seniors have fallen through. In fact. the Republican budget causes seniors to pay some $12.000 on their Medicare. Listen to me clearly. seniors. you will be paying an extra $12.000 with the Republican budget plan. And of course we will open up the doughnut hole again. the very doughnut hole that has been taken care of by the Affordable Care Act. On the other hand. the Democratic budget balances the budget. and of course it recognizes the value of a shared sacrifice. I just visited Texas soldiers. National Guard. They understand about shared sacrifice. they support each other. But this is a suicidal budget. It has no shared sacrifice. and all of the cuts come from the most vulnerable. The Republican plan is all about turning back the clock and throwing the poor people over the bridge. That is what its all about. It is a disgrace. Vote for the Democratic Budget. Mr. Chair. I rise in opposition to the Republican Budget for Fiscal Year 2012 and beyond. Unlike the proposed Democratic Budget. the Republican Budget purports to reduce our nations deficit by making disturbingly deep cuts to important programs and will have an adverse affect on our nations families. children. and the health of women. The Republican Budget: Guts Food Assistance for Struggling Families. The budget resolution calls for $127 billion in cuts to SNAP (formerly called food stamps) in a sixyear period (2015 through 2021). This proposal to blockgrant and reduce funding represents a cut of 25 percent in food benefits for some of the most vulnerable Americans. States will be forced to cut benefits to some households or create waiting lists for needy families. Takes Away Affordable Health Coverage for Millions of Working Families. The majoritys budget resolution calls for $1.4 trillion in savings from repealing coverage provisions of the Affordable Care Act. which Congress enacted a year ago to hold insurance companies accountable and extend health coverage to more than 30 million Americans who would otherwise be uninsured. This would mean repealing $777 billion in tax credits to help low- and middleincome families afford health insurance coverage. Dismantles Health Care Safety Net for Vulnerable Populations. The majoritys budget devastates health security for 28 million poor children. 5 million seniors. and 10 million disabled individuals who rely on Medicaid for a basic safety net of health care. To protect tax cuts for the wealthy. the budget includes the absurd idea to dismantle the Medicaid program and to let the chips fall where they may. no matter who might get hurt. The real hard choices are left to others: state governors. who will decide which populations or health services to drop. health care providers. whose Medicaid payments might get cut so low they will have to decide whether they can afford to continue providing services to Medicaid beneficiaries. lowincome families. who may have to decide between buying groceries and taking a sick child to a doctor. and adults with aging parents. who may have to decide between sending a child to college or paying for their parents longterm care. The Democratic Budget: Democratic budget reduces the deficit responsibly. reaches primary balance by 2018. The Democratic budget reduces the deficit by $1.2 trillion more than the Presidents budget over ten years. Includes Pell grant and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance (SNAP) initiatives. The Democratic budget includes two mandatory initiatives that are fully paid for with spending reductions. First. it includes the Presidents proposed mandatory funding to sustain the maximum Pell grant award at $5.550. in contrast to the Republican budget. which cuts Pell grant funding substantially. The Democratic Budget protects Medicaid and the Medicare guarantee for seniors. The Democratic budget protects Medicares guarantee of health care coverage for seniors and disabled workers. It also preserves the existing structure of Medicaid that provides a health care safety net for vulnerable children. families. seniors. and persons with disabilities. In contrast. the Republican budget dismantles Medicaid and ends Medicare by converting it into an inadequate voucher for the purchase of private insurance. I would urge all Members of Congress to oppose the Republican Budget and instead support the Democratic Budget to responsibly cut spending and give Americas families. women and children a chance.