Floor Statement on H. Con. Res. 27, the Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 2016
March 24, 2015
I thank my friend and colleague from Maryland for his leadership on the Budget Committee, and also the Democrats on the Budget Committee.
Mr. Chairman, Congress is really tasked at this time of year with developing a budget that lays out our Nation’s priorities and spending, but those priorities really should reflect our values. As hard as it is to imagine – and it is hard – this Price budget resolution is actually worse than the previous Ryan budget for hard-working American families.
Once again, we see how little Republicans value protecting critical priorities that actually help Americans live a healthy life and enjoy a secure retirement. In fact, the Republican budget would force working families to pay more in taxes. It would make college education less affordable. It would force seniors to pay more for their health care and prescription drugs. It would end the Medicare guarantee by turning it into a voucher program. Lastly, Mr. Chairman, it would block grant both Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
The fact is that this budget would decimate our Nation’s already crumbling infrastructure by reducing funding by 19 percent over the next decade. If you would imagine that, that means that every road that needs to be repaired, the bridges that are falling apart, the mass transit that needs investing in, this budget would actually cut our spending by 19 percent over the next decade.
It would require an additional $318 billion from Federal and postal employees and their retirees – hard-working people who have given all that they can to deficit reduction. In fact, that is a constituency that has already contributed $159 billion to deficit reduction.
Mr. Chairman, Republican priorities are making tax cuts for the wealthy permanent, and they are shrinking the size of government, regardless of the damage – great damage – that it would cause.
House Democrats, I believe, are investing in hard-working Americans. We have said it is important for us to improve access to high-quality child care and dependent care. It is important to invest in quality education for all our children. It is important to end the draconian across-the-board sequester cuts.
The Democrats’ budget would protect seniors’ health care and retirement. It would create jobs in America through rebuilding our infrastructure and support jobs by making sure our Nation's manufacturers get to invest in the research and development that they need.
In short, Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to vote down this draconian Republican budget and support each of the Democratic alternatives. I know I will be voting for them because each of them, even though they are different, would be way better than the draconian budget that has been proposed by Republicans.
I thank my colleague from Maryland for his leadership. We need to invest in America’s future, including our hard-working men and women.
