Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011

Floor Speech

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Ms. DeLAURO. I rise in opposition to this continuing resolution.

Mr. Chairman, Americans want us to work together to address their top priority--creating jobs, fostering economic recovery. Unfortunately, the majority's priorities are deeply out of touch with those of the country.

Democrats are committed to reducing the deficit. We believe, as taxpayers do, that we should start by ending tax subsidies and special interest waste. We should be slashing oil companies' subsidies first. We must make programs accountable and end the ones that do not work. We can no longer afford to continue the tax breaks for the top 2 percent of the country. Republicans are in a reckless rush to slash without regard to the impact on our economy, on the businesses which create jobs or on middle class or working families who are being responsible, doing the best for their families and educating for the future.

They are hitting ordinary, hardworking families with children, our young people trying to get an education, and the elderly. That is their starting point.

Under their budget every student in America receiving a Pell Grant, close to 9 million people, will see their aid slashed by almost $850 a year; 1.3 million students will lose their supplemental education opportunity grants and, thus, the ability to pay for college. Their plan cuts more than 200,000 kids out of Head Start, kids who will forever lose the opportunity for an early childhood education. They cut aid to school districts and special education. They will cut 55,000 Head Start teachers and close down 16,000 Head Start classrooms.

As with education, so too with jobs. In the midst of a recession and a tough labor market, training and employment services, proven-to-work programs are cut now by $5 billion. That means 8.4 million job seekers, flesh and blood human beings, could lose access to this aid completely.

In these tough economic times, it's our low-income seniors who are the most vulnerable. This budget eliminates at least 10 million new meals delivered to the homebound elderly, cuts fuel assistance for them as well. It will force seniors to either go hungry or move into nursing homes and others to have to choose whether to eat or to stay warm.

The challenge is not whether we address the deficit and spending or not. The question is where do we start to cut. Do we start with slashing ineffective programs and special interest waste, like $40 billion in oil company subsidies? Or do we start cutting those that help the middle class, our businesses, and working families with children, and seniors?

Our job is to get this budget back to common sense, to create jobs, to get this economy running again for the people of this Nation. This continuing resolution offered by the Republicans will do neither.

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