Debt Ceiling Concerns

Floor Speech

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Mr. MAGAZINER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to oppose the Republican's default on America plan that will hurt Rhode Island's seniors. The MAGA Republicans that have taken control of this House have given us a false choice.

Either we go along with their plan for painful cuts for veterans, seniors, and children, or they will purposefully wreck the economy by defaulting on the debt. This false choice is wrong and we do not need to accept it.

In particular, their plan would enact painful cuts on senior citizens in Rhode Island. How?

By cutting funding to the Social Security Administration so that the quarter million elderly and disabled Rhode Islanders who depend on Social Security would face longer wait times for their benefits. Also, by cutting funding for seniors' nutrition programs like Meals on Wheels, housing, and slashing funding for home care, putting the lives of seniors at risk.

This is not about deficit reduction. If this was about deficit reduction, my Republican colleagues would be lining up to support President Biden's budget, which reduces the deficit by $3 trillion. No. This is an extreme agenda that puts working people, in particular seniors, in the back seat while doing the bidding of wealthy donors and billionaires and corporations.

We do not need to accept it. People will not stand for it. I will fight this default on America plan with everything that I have.

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