[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 64 (Thursday, May 15, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H2779]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          DEMOCRATS GETTING READY TO STAND UP AND FIGHT AGAIN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Connecticut [Ms. DeLauro] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. DeLauro. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to remind my colleagues what 
we can accomplish when we stand up together and fight for what we 
believe in.
  Last year the congressional majority attempted to cut the school 
lunch program, and we stood up and said that it is wrong, simply wrong 
to take food out of the mouths of our children, and we stood up for our 
nation's kids, and we won that fight.
  Then the congressional majority attempted to cut billions of dollars 
out of the Medicare program, and once again Democrats stood up and said 
it is wrong, simply wrong, to take health care away from our nation's 
seniors. We stood up for our nation's seniors, and we won that fight.
  Last month the congressional majority showed that they have not 
learned from their mistakes. Republicans on the House Committee on 
Appropriations led the charge and voted overwhelming to underfund the 
Women, Infants and Children program by $38 million. Their actions would 
have forced 180,000 pregnant women, infants and children off of the WIC 
program. Once again we stood up and said it is wrong, simply wrong, to 
take milk, to take cereal, to take formula off of the breakfast tables. 
We stood up for women, for infants and for children, and we won that 
fight.
  And as we head into this budget process, we should not be afraid to 
continue to stand up and fight for what we believe in because every 
time we have, we have won the fight.
  We all agreed, Democrats and Republicans, about the need to balance 
the federal budget. But we need to stand up and make sure that any 
budget agreement includes a budget that is balanced in a way that is 
consistent with our priorities and our values as a Nation. We do not 
have a lot of details yet about the specifics of this budget agreement, 
but looking at the GOP tax cut plan makes me think: Get ready, guys, we 
are going to be forced to stand up and to fight once again, for the GOP 
tax cut plan mostly helps the wealthy. In fact, over 50 percent of the 
benefits go to the top 5 percent of wage earners.
  This is not the kind of a tax cut that the working families of 
America are looking for. Democrats are going to stand up and fight for 
the folks who are not making the 6 figure salaries and incomes, the 
families who could really use some tax relief.
  We will fight, fight to make sure that the tax cuts in this budget 
deal go to the families that need it the most, to working middle class 
families, to small businesses, to small farmers. We will fight to make 
sure this budget protects and preserves the Medicare program, and we 
will fight to make sure that this budget provides for education and for 
health care for our kids.
  We have stood up and we have fought before for our children, for our 
seniors and for the working families of America, and we will stand up 
and fight once again.

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