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“ Democratic priorities are clear: we will fight to get the economy back on track, we will create jobs, and we will help unemployed workers. ” |
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Pelosi: Republican Congress Marked by Missed Opportunities, Wrong Priorities, and Is Out of Touch with American People
Washington, D.C. – House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi joined House and Senate Democrats today in a show of Democratic unity working toward real solutions for America’s future. Below are Pelosi’s remarks:
“As House Democratic Leader, I am pleased to join Leader Reid and the other distinguished leaders and Members of Congress to point out that the first seven months of the Republican Congress has been marked by missed opportunities and wrong priorities. It is a congress that is out of touch with the American people.
“The Republican Congress is a congress that is here to cater to the corporate special interest at the expense of the public interest.
“The American people are concerned about job security, and Republicans here have done nothing to create jobs. In fact, they and the President have the worst record of job creation since Herbert Hoover.
“More people do not have access to health care, and this Congress has done nothing to make that better for them.
“In terms of expanding opportunity, the Republicans in the House passed a bill out of committee the other day that would add $6,000 to the cost of student loans for America’s students, sending our kids deeper into debt, instead of to college with all the optimism for the future.
“When it comes to our national security the American people know that the war in Iraq is not making us safer, but what do the Republicans do? They ignore the vulnerability in our own country, and refuse to allocate the resources to make us safer, most recently, resisting appropriations for transportation safety.
“And when those young people in Iraq come home as veterans they are ignored by this Congress.
“This Congress is out of touch – whether it is about jobs, health care, education, protecting America from terrorism, or honoring our veterans for their service. They are out of touch too on an ethical standard that the American people expect and deserve.
“Democrats are the party of the future. We are here to grow a dynamic economy that will expand job opportunity for many more Americans so they can participate in the economic success of our country; expand opportunity for more education, investing in No Child Left Behind and the higher education of our young people; broaden access to health care, to remove that insecurity from American life; protect the environment; and allocate resources so that our neighborhoods are safe and that the American people do not feel unsafe because of the threat of terrorism.
“We want to do that in an accountable way that does not heap mountains of debt onto our children and future generations, and we will do it in a way that meets a high ethical standard.
“Harry Truman said it well, ‘The Democratic Party stands for the people. The Republicans stand, and always have stood, for special interests.’
“We are true to our roots, but we look forward, for example, to when we have an energy bill that for the future instead of the one passed by the Republicans, which they even have to admit increases the price of gasoline at the pump and does not reduce our reliance on foreign oil.
“So on any subject you can name, this Republican Congress is a congress that is out of touch with the American people.
“Thank you.”
“ Democrats are united in presenting a New Direction for America, one that will make our nation as strong as its people, one that brings opportunity, security, and prosperity to all Americans. ”
Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi
