Lee Votes Against 2012 Funding Bill
Contact Kristal DeKleer (202) 225-1882
Partisan policy riders a gift to extreme Republican base
Washington, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) issued the following statement after voting against the Conference Report on H.R. 2055, the Consolidated Appropriations Act:
“While the $1 trillion spending bill for 2012 is necessary to make our government function, the insertion of dangerous and short-sighted special interest riders meant to appease Republican Tea Party extremists will hurt millions of poor and struggling individuals and families in this country.
“I voted no because I cannot support a bill that distracts from the real work of protecting the American people from hardship and from the real work of investing in a more prosperous future for all Americans.
“This bill reinstates the 1987 federal ban on funding for needle exchange programs which will undermine our efforts to prevent the spread of HIV and Hepatitis C. This bill includes funding for abstinence only sex education which fails to encourage optimal sexual health outcomes for America’s youth. The bill also cuts critical funding for HIV prevention efforts in schools at a time when HIV rates among young men of color are increasing at an alarming rate. This bill is rigged with anti-environment policy riders which will increase pollution in our communities. Stunningly, this bill singles out women in Washington, D.C. by cutting off access to the same health and reproductive services available to women all across the country, which directly affects young women of color.
“Not one of these policy riders will raise the falling median incomes of American workers, nor will they create the millions of jobs necessary to grow the middle class. At a time when half of all Americans are either in poverty, near poor or low income, Congress should be focused on lifting these families up and reigniting the American Dream for all.
“I could not support a funding bill that continues to fund over $2 billion a week on a war without end in Afghanistan. As we successfully pull out of Iraq, we must allow the political process in Afghanistan to take over and immediately begin to pull our brave men and women in uniform out of harms’ way. Let’s bring our troops home and spend $2 billion a week on nation building here in our own country.
“We must protect the social safety net and I hope that Congress will wisely extend unemployment compensation for Americans that are currently looking for work, especially for the long-term unemployed. Congress must also extend the payroll tax cut for the 160 million hardworking Americans who can’t afford to see taxes go up by $1,000 at the beginning of next year.”
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Follow Barbara Lee on Twitter @RepBarbaraLee
Links to House Floor speech in opposition to H.R. 2055: http://bit.ly/vQdgJZ and http://bit.ly/vuxXFr