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Pelosi: Democrats Want to Take America in a New Direction
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Contact: Brendan Daly/Jennifer Crider, 202-226-7616
Washington, D.C. – House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi joined other House Democratic leaders at a press stakeout this morning after the Democratic Caucus meeting to discuss government accountability and congressional oversight. Below are Pelosi’s remarks:
“Thank you, Chairman Clyburn. I want to join you in acknowledging the excellent work that the Blue Dog Coalition has done, under the leadership of Mr. Tanner and Mr. Cardoza. Because of the intellectual resource that the Blue Dogs are to our Caucus, the position of no new deficit spending, pay-as you-go has become the Caucus position for all Democrats in the House, and it is an integral part of our New Direction to take us to fiscal soundness.
“On the first day that Congress comes into session next year, if Democrats are successful at the polls, the first piece of legislation will include our reform package to make it an honest Congress, second, we will do our civility package to make it a bipartisan Congress, and third, we will pass our accountability legislation that will say no new deficit spending, pay-as-you go, and audit the books. I thank the Blue Dogs for their leadership on this.
“Nowhere is the need for a New Direction for America more obvious than in Iraq. Certainly, the most important is the loss of life; we passed 2,500 lives lost, and nearly 20,000 have been injured, half of them permanently. We also face the loss of our reputation in the world and the loss of our strength in terms of our military capability to protect our security. But, what about the money?
“As to the cost of reconstruction -- $9 billion is unaccounted for. The American people deserve to know how their tax dollars are spent and if it’s in furtherance of the goals as stated by the Bush Administration.
“This New Direction of fiscal soundness, pay-as-you-go, audit the books is the guiding principle. Under that, we say that our troops must be provided a future worthy of their sacrifice. While they’re fighting, what’s happening here at home?
“Health insurance costs have gone up 70 percent under the Bush Administration and the Republican Congress – six million more Americans do not have coverage. The cost of gasoline has nearly doubled in the five years of the Bush Administration – up to $3 a gallon. Tuition for higher education has increased enormously, yet the Bush Administration has taken us in the wrong direction, cutting $12 billion in assistance for higher education. And the purchasing power of middle-income families’ wages has been greatly reduced under the Bush Administration and the Republican Congress.
“Democrats want to take us in a different direction. Energy, minimum wage, health care, higher education, fiscal soundness – this is the New Direction in which we want to take our country. It meets the needs of the American people; it respects their concerns, their aspirations, their hopes, their dreams, and their challenges. But we must do it in a fiscally sound way.
“A New Direction from where we are now, but it is a direction we were going in during the 90s producing record surpluses. If we had stayed the course we would be debt-free as a nation by 2008. Instead, this Bush Administration and Republican Congress are taking us deeply in debt and they can’t even account for the money. Thank you.”
To read more about Democrats’ New Direction for America click here: http://www.democraticleader.house.gov/pdf/NewDirection.pdf
