December 08, 2003
Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) today opposed the controversial Republican omnibus appropriations package, a package of seven appropriations bills that the Republican leadership tied together in order to force Members to support undermining workers’ overtime pay, eliminate the reimportation of prescription drugs, and underfund public education.
“It is an outrage that the Republican leadership would not address these very serious issues in a serious way,” said Lee. “As they did with the three-hour Medicare vote, the Republicans have used disingenuous tactics to steamroll this bill, even though these are issues of vital importance to real Americans.”
The bill excludes a provision to block Administration regulations that would deny overtime pay to 8 million employees – even though the measure was agreed upon by a majority of both bodies. Under pressure from the Bush Administration at the eleventh hour, the Republican leadership went against the will of both the House and the Senate, choosing instead to benefit large employers.
The omnibus bill also drops drug reimportation provisions, which would have drastically reduced the cost of prescription drugs for America’s seniors. As with overtime pay, drug reimportation was agreed to by both the House and Senate.
The bill also falls woefully short in providing funding for America’s students and education systems. For the No Child Left Behind Act, Republicans provided $7.8 billion less than was promised by President Bush. Of that money, after-school centers will receive $751 million less than promised, depriving 1 million children of after-school care.
Finally, the bill contains private school vouchers for the District of Columbia, a move that will harm public schools, reduce accountability and drain much-needed resources away from public education in what is a first step to privatizing our nation’s schools.
“It is really shameful what this Republican Congress has done,” said Lee. “Their leadership is not of the people, but of special interests. Their decisions are not for the people, but for big corporations. I did not come to Congress to see Americans’ lives destroyed bit by bit.”
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Congresswoman Barbara Lee Opposes Republican Omnibus Appropriations Bill
Refuses to Compromise Workers’ Overtime Pay, Undermine Elimination of Drug Reimportation Provisions, and Support Private School Vouchers
Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) today opposed the controversial Republican omnibus appropriations package, a package of seven appropriations bills that the Republican leadership tied together in order to force Members to support undermining workers’ overtime pay, eliminate the reimportation of prescription drugs, and underfund public education.
“It is an outrage that the Republican leadership would not address these very serious issues in a serious way,” said Lee. “As they did with the three-hour Medicare vote, the Republicans have used disingenuous tactics to steamroll this bill, even though these are issues of vital importance to real Americans.”
The bill excludes a provision to block Administration regulations that would deny overtime pay to 8 million employees – even though the measure was agreed upon by a majority of both bodies. Under pressure from the Bush Administration at the eleventh hour, the Republican leadership went against the will of both the House and the Senate, choosing instead to benefit large employers.
The omnibus bill also drops drug reimportation provisions, which would have drastically reduced the cost of prescription drugs for America’s seniors. As with overtime pay, drug reimportation was agreed to by both the House and Senate.
The bill also falls woefully short in providing funding for America’s students and education systems. For the No Child Left Behind Act, Republicans provided $7.8 billion less than was promised by President Bush. Of that money, after-school centers will receive $751 million less than promised, depriving 1 million children of after-school care.
Finally, the bill contains private school vouchers for the District of Columbia, a move that will harm public schools, reduce accountability and drain much-needed resources away from public education in what is a first step to privatizing our nation’s schools.
“It is really shameful what this Republican Congress has done,” said Lee. “Their leadership is not of the people, but of special interests. Their decisions are not for the people, but for big corporations. I did not come to Congress to see Americans’ lives destroyed bit by bit.”
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