[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 82 (Tuesday, June 11, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E839-E840]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 2216, MILITARY CONSTRUCTION AND 
 VETERANS AFFAIRS, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2014; AND 
   PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 2217, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND 
                   SECURITY APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2014

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                  HON. HENRY C. ``HANK'' JOHNSON, JR.

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 4, 2013

  Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to H. Res. 
243, the rule providing for consideration of both H.R. 2216, the Fiscal 
Year 2014 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Related 
Agencies Appropriations Act and H.R. 2217, the Fiscal Year 2014 
Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act because it deems the 
draconian and harmful Ryan budget as law. We should be using this 
opportunity to pass a budget, in consultation with the Senate, which 
will get the economy back on the right track in this new fiscal year. I 
stand before you today to express my opposition to the Ryan budget and 
thereby my opposition to the rule that deems this budget passed.
  The Ryan budget is an economic catastrophe of this Tea Party 
majority's choosing.

[[Page E840]]

Support for this rule, and by default the Ryan budget, is support for 
deep cuts to programs that help needy Americans as well as for 
infrastructure programs that put people to work and help our businesses 
thrive. Under the Ryan Budget, draconian limits will be placed upon 
Food Stamps and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, which would be 
an enormous detriment to those in poverty. According to the National 
Poverty Center, in 2010, 15.1 percent of Americans lived in poverty, 
the highest rate of poverty since 1993. In the last year, the number of 
Georgians on food stamps has risen to 1.9 million, almost 20 percent of 
the population.
  A vote for this rule and the Ryan budget would be a choice to slow 
our economic recovery. Mr. Speaker, I cannot make that choice. I cannot 
choose to cut Head Start for parents who cannot afford daycare or end 
Medicare as we know it for seniors.
  I have heard the complaints from Republicans about the need for a 
budget, which is why this rule is so disappointing. Mr. Speaker, there 
are people in Georgia's Fourth District, and here at the steps of the 
Capitol living on the streets, desperate for food and shelter; yet, Tea 
Party Republicans are willing to exacerbate the situation by snatching 
away the programs that help the poor get back on their feet.
  Do not allow this Tea Party Congress to ``deem'' the Ryan budget as 
law, ignoring regular order, and cutting benefits for those Americans 
who need them the most.
  I urge a ``no'' vote on the Rule.

                          ____________________