Congresswoman Lee Slams House Republican Budget "Rigged for Special Interests and the One Percent"
Washington DC – Congresswoman Lee released the following statement in response to the proposed House Republican budget:
“The House Republicans’ so-called ‘balanced’ budget is not ‘balanced;’ it’s rigged for special interests and the one percent.
By cutting food stamps, denying healthcare to millions and ending Medicare as we know it, this budget shows that Republican priorities lie only the wealthy and the well-connected. This budget funds corporate giveaways and a larger slush fund for Pentagon contractors at the expense of American families. It is a blueprint for greater inequality and fewer economic opportunities.
Just yesterday, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office released a report detailing the destructive impact of proposed food assistance, known as SNAP, cuts on families. The report clearly showed the dire economic toll of this misguided action. With more than 45 million Americans living in poverty, we simply cannot afford to further erode the little assistance left for families living on the edge.
Rather than further squeezing families struggling to make ends meet, House Republicans should join the national conversation to address poverty and inequality.
We know how to end poverty in our country. Congress must work together to create good-paying jobs, raise the minimum wage, fully fund job training programs and provide high quality educational opportunities for all.
Gutting these programs is not the path to ending poverty; it is the path toward greater poverty.
In contrast to the Republicans’ cut-cut-cut mentality, the budget does increase investment in one area: the slush fund for Pentagon contractors. Instead of forcing the Pentagon to live within its means, Republicans continue to pour billions into the untraceable black box known as the Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) Fund. I have long opposed this black box budgeting that provides no oversight and only serves to pad the wallets of Pentagon contractors.
Americans deserve a budget that supports families, puts people back to work, makes smart investments in our future and protects the safety net for our children, seniors and the most vulnerable.”
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Congresswoman Lee is a member of the Appropriations and Budget Committees, the Steering and Policy Committee, is a Senior Democratic Whip, former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus and co-chair of the Progressive Caucus. She serves as chair of the Whip’s Task Force on Poverty and Opportunity.