Cuts to Critical Spending

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, I know that many of our folks back home have been seeing or hearing the news nonstop about the debt ceiling and how much the health of our economy is counting on getting to a resolution.

Well, it is May 24 at 6:59 p.m., and because of Republicans, we don't have a deal because they refuse to put people over politics.

Republicans have made this all about political games. Quite frankly, it seems like they are happier to play under the guise of bipartisan negotiating to cut government spending, but there are real-life repercussions to the theater.

Let me be absolutely clear. Speaker Kevin McCarthy and his extreme MAGA Republicans aren't going to be the ones who aren't able to afford housing or keep food on the table if they get their way on massive cuts to essential domestic programs.

It is actually going to be everyday people across the country, including in the Third Congressional District of Illinois, which sent me to Congress to protect them from these cruel Republican cuts and an attack on our economy with bad deals.

It is going to be everyday people like Estela, a constituent of mine. Estela arrived in Chicago 13 years ago from Guatemala, fleeing life-threatening violence and seeking security.

Since then, she has called Chicago home and has dedicated her time to ensure that others can also call it home, providing key information to protect renters' rights.

Like many of the families that she helps and like many of our constituents on both sides of the aisle, Estela's family depended on Federal housing funding to keep her home during the pandemic.

Now, as the cost of living keeps rising, she finds herself confronting the same exact problem as many other families: How do we pay rent? How to keep a place to live?

She says, ``It is very difficult to see so many people be displaced from their homes because of the rising costs of rent. The cost of living is a problem that is affecting many families like mine. I have four children, and it is very difficult to afford extremely high rent and also afford our other necessities.''

Now, you see, part of what makes Estela's experience so powerful is that this is the experience of so many everyday people.

People are already struggling. They are already trying to spread their paycheck for enough to cover the mortgage, the rent, feeding their children, utilities, the essential basics we all need and deserve.

Estela's story of struggling with housing costs while still working to help others in her community keeps me rooted in why we do everything in our power to protect our constituents from the Republican-made debt limit crisis.

What Republicans are doing right now is reckless, and it is irresponsible, and it is all to guarantee their ability to try to win politically in 2024.

They are willing to gamble with working people's livelihoods and the global economy. Republicans would rather default on the debt than come to an agreement that protects critical investments in our community across Social Security, SNAP benefits, veteran healthcare, housing, Medicaid, and more.

Republicans want to stick it to working people to bear the burden of terrible cuts instead of making billionaires and big corporations pay their fair share.

The question for me continues to be why?

Why is it that they are far more interested in protecting billionaires and corporations than the constituents they represent?

The Republican Party has a Republican-made problem, and Progressives are clear. We are not going to sell out our communities for a bad deal.

Tonight, I will be joined by fellow Progressive colleagues who will share stories from their own constituents because we have too much at stake to give in to cruel Republican demands.

I am pleased to yield to my colleagues who will share their personal testimonies from their own constituents and why we need to protect our communities from Republican cuts and bad deals.

I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania, (Mr. Deluzio).

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Mrs. RAMIREZ.

Mr. GOLDMAN of New York. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to discuss the Republican efforts to extort President Biden and the American people.

As a former prosecutor who prosecuted the Italian mob for extortion, I do not use that term lightly, but that is exactly what the Republicans are doing to hold America hostage to their extreme views.

Make no mistake about it: House Republicans would never pass the draconian spending cuts that they are pushing if they had to go through the regular budget and appropriations process with a Democratic- controlled Senate and a Democrat in the White House, and they know that. That is why they are using the threat of default on our debts, which would devastate our economy, to extract concessions that they would otherwise never get.

You don't have to take my word for it. One Republican Member said just yesterday, ``Why would we negotiate with our hostage?''

To understand how unreasonable and how twisted their rationale is, consider the Speaker's response when asked by a reporter what concessions he has offered Democrats.

He stated one thing in response: Raising the debt ceiling.

That is not a concession. That is their constitutional duty to maintain the full faith and credit of the United States.

Our deficit is where it is today largely because of the excessive spending and serious, severe tax cuts that the Trump administration implemented.

These same Republicans had no problem raising the debt limit three times without demanding any spending cuts.

Republicans have a responsibility to ensure that we pay our debts, created on their watch, so we don't default and so the global economy does not crater, which would cause millions of Americans to lose their jobs, their benefits, their healthcare, their food, and their education.

We could raise the debt ceiling today if any five Republicans had the courage to stand up to the most extreme voices in their party who view the default on our debts and the catastrophic effect it would have on the global economy as an objective in and of itself.

Our Constitution states that the validity of the public debt authorized by law shall not be questioned. Yet, Republicans insist that this constitutional obligation does not apply to them.

We must stop playing politics with our global economy, and we must stand strong because we cannot and will not negotiate with extortionists.

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Mrs. RAMIREZ. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressmen Goldman and Deluzio for the work they are doing in their districts, the work that they do here in Congress, and for their commitment to our country, to our communities before the politics that we are seeing before us today.

I keep hearing Speaker McCarthy say in one of his many interviews he does a day--he spends a lot more time, I think, on interviews than actually negotiating or working with us. I hear: We don't want an increase to the debt limit.

Well, let me break down what Republicans want. Republicans insist that we spend less, but that actually equates into spending less on public housing, on food assistance, on Medicaid, on other fundamental programs like veterans' healthcare, like supporting our kids, our families, our communities.

There are no cuts to the multibillion-dollar defense weapons contractors, though. However, everyday constituents that sent us here, they should get those cuts.

The Republicans' framework imposes drastic cuts that would result in a 33 percent cut in 2024 to what I said, like housing, healthcare, education, and so much more. They would put 780,000 people out of work and cost more than 1 million jobs.

It would strip up to 21 million Americans of Medicaid coverage.

It would deny access to affordable college to 60,000 people.

It would kick 200,000 children off of Head Start.

It would force 100,000 families to lose access to childcare.

It would rob 1.2 million women, infants, and children of nutrition assistance.

It would remove rental assistance from 640,000 families and evict 430,000 more from public housing.

Republicans are willing to put the lives and livelihoods of the American people at risk. This is not just counterproductive; it is cruel.

This plan would pull hundreds of billions of dollars out of the economy, and it could contribute to a recession, increasing the deficit that they so desperately want to address--or it is what they say.

These are the choices that they are presenting: Default on America or a debt ceiling increase under their terms. That is it.

Here is the thing: The American people know that those are not the only options. Those two are not the only two choices. There are other choices, from making the wealthy pay their fair share to getting a discharge petition to the floor with the help of just one, two, three, four, five sensible, reasonable Republicans. That is it. Five Republicans. They could be from New York; they could be from California; they could be from Texas. Five people from the other side of the aisle could end this hostage experience of the American people and stop punishing their own constituents by signing onto the discharge petition or we can utilize the 14th Amendment.

From day one, progressives have been the most responsible and loudest voices in defending working families from Republican extreme behavior. That is why the CPC publicly called for raising the debt ceiling last fall. That is why CPC members were the first to sign the discharge petition to force a vote on the clean debt ceiling, and it is why we will continue to call out Republican games and hostage-taking.

That is why we convened this Special Order hour for the Congressional Progressive Caucus, and I thank my colleagues who have joined me today and many others who are wrapped up in picking up calls from constituents who are calling and asking, what does this mean for my healthcare come June 1? What does this mean for my ability to get nutritional benefits come June 2?

In conclusion, the looming debt ceiling crisis has been significantly exacerbated by the Republicans' approach and their steadfast commitment to place party politics above the well-being of everyday people across our Nation.

As the June 1 deadline rapidly approaches, we all must recognize the gravity of the situation, and we have to demand immediate action that protects people over politics. The Republicans are holding the livelihood of Americans as prisoners.

According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, the Republicans' default on America act would cost States and local communities an astonishing $1.3 trillion. This would be disastrous for food access, for housing support, and for the overall well-being of our society.

I am profoundly grateful and humbled by the courage of constituents of mine, such as Rachel from Mount Prospect, Illinois, who took the time to reach out and express her concerns, reaffirming my commitment to effectively representing their best interests in this negotiation.

Rachel shared: ``I am really worried about the debt ceiling increase not being passed, or if it is passed that Democrats will have to give in to extortion and agree to cut Medicaid, veteran programs, and climate provisions.

``Congresswoman, please do not let Democrats and President Biden cave to House Republican extortion on the debt limit.

``If Democrats betray us by doing so, Republicans will simply do this every single time. Don't give in. Please vote only for a clean debt ceiling.''

I say thank you to Rachel. Our shared call to action is clear. It is about 7:20 p.m. For my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, if they are watching, hearing, complaining about me talking about essential programs that might be cut, if you are hearing from your constituents who are just saying to you: We are tired of Washington politics, do your job.

Well, I invite you to do your job, to join us, to actually negotiate and compromise to make sure that the American people are our priority, and not just politics of who can get over the other or a Congressman from Florida talking about you don't negotiate with a hostage.

The American people refuse to be hostages of politics in this country anymore, and this is why I call every one of my colleagues: Have the courage, have the ability, and put your constituents above the politics. Join us. All we need is five of you.

Let's be reasonable. Let's refuse to play into extremism. Let's put people over politics. Sign the discharge petition. All we need is five more patriots. Who will these courageous patriots be? Who will these servants be? That is the question.

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