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U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, issued the following opening statement at a markup of budget reconciliation legislation that is expected to last until late Thursday night.
"I am deeply disturbed that this Committee and this Congress is moving forward with budget reconciliation legislation that will severely weaken essential public programs for millions of low-income Americans while failing to seriously address any of our budgetary problems.
"Less than two months ago, our nation witnessed the worst natural disaster in U.S. history. The flooding of New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina not only devastated an entire city but also focused the country's attention on how many of our fellow Americans continue to live in abject poverty.
"We watched in disbelief the shocking images coming out of New Orleans. Days later President Bush said our nation needed to commit itself once again to combating poverty. My Democratic colleagues agreed with the president's words. Unfortunately, that's all they appear to have been---words not followed by action.
"No sooner had the floodwaters of Hurricane Katrina receded than conservatives in the White House and Congress begin to use the disaster to advance their own agenda -- suspending health, labor, and environmental regulations and calling for additional cuts to vital entitlement programs for low-income families, including food stamps, student loans, and Medicaid.
"Make no doubt about it, Republican efforts to cut Medicaid and other critical programs will leave gaping holes in our nation's social safety net and place our most vulnerable citizen's in harm's way. This week our Committee is considering a Republican plan to extract more than $10 billion from Medicaid by enacting a series of harmful proposals such as increasing cost sharing requirements and cutting benefits. These so-called reforms will undoubtedly make it harder for our most vulnerable citizens to access much-needed health care services and medications.
"Now is certainly not the time to cut Medicaid, especially in such an arbitrary fashion. Recent census figures show that more and more Americans are joining the ranks of the uninsured. Yet Republicans are proposing changes to Medicaid that would further reduce access to health insurance for low-income families and exacerbate the problem of the uninsured.
"What's worse, Republicans are trying to deceive the American public into believing that these cuts come in the name of fiscal responsibility. In reality, these reductions in programs for low-income families would do virtually nothing to improve the nation's long-term deficit problems, nor would they help pay for recovery and rebuilding efforts in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
"Rather, these cuts will be used to partially offset the cost of extending tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans, an irresponsible and shameless move. Even if the Republicans pass their budget amendment to increase the overall spending cuts to $50 billion, their proposed $70 billion in tax giveaways to the wealthy will still result in a net $20 billion increase in the deficit.
"Let's also be clear that the majority of tax cuts proposed under the Republican budget reconciliation favor the wealthiest Americans. An estimated 53 percent of the benefits from these provisions are going to the top 0.2 percent of households with incomes over $1 million per year. Furthermore, over 75 percent of these tax cuts are going to the top 3.3 percent of household with incomes exceeding $200,000 a year.
"As Republicans advance this reconciliation, it is becoming increasingly obvious how out of touch their party is with the needs and values of the American people and how ineffective their policies have been at promoting the common good. In the face of Hurricane Katrina, the war in Iraq, and rising budget deficits, the last thing our country needs is more tax cuts for the wealthy.
"Instead, our country needs to reassess its priorities and make different choices. I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to reject the budget reconciliation legislation under consideration today and work together to find a different solution to our budget problems -- a solution that is not paid for by our most vulnerable citizens." |
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