[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 59 (Monday, April 18, 2016)]
[House]
[Pages H1787-H1793]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
{time} 1945
CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS--ROAD TO RUIN: HOUSE REPUBLICANS FAIL ON THE
BUDGET
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of
January 6, 2015, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Jeffries) is
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.
General Leave
Mr. JEFFRIES. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
be given 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks
and to include any extraneous material on the subject of this Special
Order.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from New York?
There was no objection.
Mr. JEFFRIES. Madam Speaker, it is an honor and a privilege, once
again, to come to the House floor on behalf of the Congressional Black
Caucus and join with my distinguished colleague from Ohio,
Representative Joyce Beatty, as we anchor this Congressional Black
Caucus Special Order--the CBC hour of power--where, for 60 minutes, we
get an opportunity to talk to the American people about issues of great
importance to the African American community, to our democracy, and,
certainly, to our country at large.
Today, we are here to discuss, tragically, the House GOP's continued
failure to demonstrate the ability to govern in a basic fashion--that
is to pass a budget, which is required by statutory law, as of April
15. That deadline has come and gone, and we are still waiting for the
House majority to present a budget to this body for our consideration.
We were told for years by people, including by the current Speaker of
this great House, that the most fundamental tenet of governing is the
passage of a budget. Yet, even with Republicans in firm control of both
the House and the Senate, it seems that this Congress is still unable
to get its act together. It is a stunning act of legislative abdication
of basic responsibilities. We are going to explore that tonight, not
just from a procedural standpoint, but from a standpoint of how this is
indicative of this majority's unwillingness and inability to do the
business of the American people.
It is now my honor and my privilege to yield to my distinguished
colleague, my coanchor, my classmate--the always eloquent and
effervescent gentlewoman from the great city of Columbus in the great
State of Ohio, Representative Joyce Beatty.
Mrs. BEATTY. I thank the gentleman.
I always look forward to engaging in our Congressional Black Caucus'
Special Order hour and, tonight, for our dialogue, for our debate, on
the House Republicans' repeated failure to pass a budget.
First, let me say, as your classmate and colleague, being able to be
the voice for your constituents and my constituents and America at
large, it is an honor. I think it is so important, when we think about
how important the work of this Congress is, for us to take on
challenging the House Republicans' road to ruin.
Madam Speaker, tonight, the Congressional Black Caucus is going to
discuss the importance of why we should pass a budget. Not only that, I
am sure Mr. Jeffries and I will have a dialogue about the value and the
importance of having a budget. As Members of Congress and, especially,
as members of the Congressional Black Caucus, we know specifically that
a budget creates jobs and that it raises the paychecks of hardworking
American people while reducing the deficit in a balanced and
responsible way.
Madam Speaker, let me just take a moment to point out that this is
not
[[Page H1788]]
the first time that the Congressional Black Caucus has held a Special
Order hour on the subject of the Republicans' inaction. Earlier this
year, the Congressional Black Caucus came to this House floor and
implored the Republican leadership to do its job--the job America wants
us to do--and that was to enact commonsense gun control legislation. To
date, Madam Speaker, Republicans have continued to fail the American
people by putting forth or by bringing forth commonsense gun control
legislation. It is still hanging out there, waiting for action.
Now, again, here in the House of Representatives, the people's House,
we are faced with another instance of Republican failure. Under law, as
spelled out in title III of the Congressional Budget Act, Congress is
directed to complete actions on the concurrent resolution on the budget
by April 15, as we heard Mr. Jeffries remind us. A concurrent
resolution on the budget means it is supposed to pass both the Senate
and the House, again, by April 15. At this date, neither Chamber has
considered a budget resolution for 2017.
Madam Speaker, I don't know about your constituents, but in my
district, Ohio's Third Congressional District, my constituents expect
Congress to work; so let's take a look at it.
What happens when people refuse to do their jobs?
If postal workers don't deliver, you don't get your mail. If farmers
don't farm, people don't eat. If teachers don't show up, our children
don't learn. People all over America take their jobs seriously, and
they expect us, as their elected officials, to also do that. It is time
for House Republicans to get America off the road to ruin and back on
the path to prosperity.
When Speaker Ryan took office--this is worth repeating, and
Congressman Jeffries mentioned this earlier. When Speaker Ryan took
office, House Republicans stated that passing a budget was a basic
function of government. However, the statutory deadline of passing a
budget resolution by April 15 has come and gone, although House
Republicans made passing a budget a top priority for this year. In the
Republicans' own words, they can't even accomplish the basic functions
of government--their job.
Madam Speaker, why do we care that we don't have a budget? Let me
give you the answer.
The importance of setting a budget is that it lays out the blueprint
for the appropriations process. It outlines government spending for the
year. Without a budget, we have 12 appropriations bills that are
working their way through Congress without there being guiding
principles on overall spending. If we cannot as a Congress perform the
basic functions of governing, how are we going to tackle the much more
complicated issues, such as income inequality, education quality,
tuition affordability, tax reform, and so many others?
Once again, House Republicans have demonstrated the degree to which
the sharp division within their Conference is impeding Congress'
ability to work for the American people. Instead of coming together
with Democrats to pass a budget resolution that will create jobs and
grow the paychecks of hardworking American families, they have just
decided not to pass a budget.
This decision was made despite the fact that President Obama
submitted his budget request to Congress back in February. As you may
remember, Madam Speaker, the Republican majority here in the House of
Representatives and the Republican-controlled Senate took the
unprecedented step of refusing to receive the OMB Director for a formal
hearing so as to present the President's budget.
Madam Speaker, how did that turn out for us? We all know how it
turned out. The Republican Conference failed the American people, and
it set us on a road to ruin by not passing a budget.
Mr. Jeffries, I look forward to our continuing this dialogue tonight
with other members of the Congressional Black Caucus.
Mr. JEFFRIES. I thank Congresswoman Beatty for a very thorough
presentation and for pointing out that the Speaker, himself, and the
Republican majority have indicated that they should be judged based on
their capacity to complete the basics of their job responsibilities,
which include the passage of a budget resolution. In fact, it was then-
Congressman Ryan who, in 2012, stated that failing to enact a budget
has serious consequences for American families.
There are at least three current health crises that we are trying to
deal with in America and throughout the world, but Republicans have
abdicated their responsibility: the Zika virus, the Flint water crisis,
and the opioid addiction that is ravaging communities in the inner
cities, in suburban America, and all throughout the rural parts of this
country; yet House Republicans have failed not just to put forth a
budget that would provide a roadmap to deal with these issues, but they
have chosen to simply ignore these crises in a manner that represents
such a stunning departure of what responsible Members of Congress
should be doing at this particular point in time.
I am thankful that we have been joined by the distinguished
gentlewoman from the great Lone Star State, who has always been
thoughtful and eloquent on issues of importance not just to her
district, which is anchored in Houston, Texas, but through her
membership and leadership on the Homeland Security Committee as well as
on the House Judiciary Committee. She has been so thoughtful and
effective on a great many issues in the context of our safety, of our
well-being, of criminal justice reform, of course, and of the
protection of civil liberties--all issues that are fundamental to our
democracy in the same way that a budgetary roadmap is fundamental to
our democracy.
Let me yield to Representative Sheila Jackson Lee.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. I thank my colleagues for their eloquence but, more
importantly, for the Congressional Black Caucus in its taking up the
mantle of the moral compass of justice.
One would argue that justice is tied to our committee, the Judiciary
Committee; but as I look at this Congress and as I look at a very small
document called the Constitution, one can anchor the responsibilities
of this body--of both the House and the Senate--Mr. Jeffries, in the
Bill of Rights. I would like to just, very briefly, take us on a
journey that indicates that our moral compass is broken because a
budget that was supposed to be passed on April 15, by midnight, was
not.
To the gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands, let me thank her. She
will have her own distinctive story, in her eloquence, about the
fairness to the territories.
I listened, as I came in, to the presentation by the gentlewoman from
Ohio, who knows full well that we need a budget to ensure that there is
full employment in America. Then I work extensively with my colleague
on the Judiciary Committee, and we will not pass or fund prison reform
without a budget.
I rise today, however, to weave in and out of my comments about the
moral compass that is broken to indicate that my district--the 18th
Congressional District in Houston, Texas, and Harris County--is under a
terrible emergency disaster. We are underwater. We are again facing an
enormous rainfall that has been listed as historic and, possibly, as
catastrophic.
Let me acknowledge my mayor, Mayor Turner, and county judge, Judge
Emmett, for the work that has been done so far; and let me indicate two
pastors with whom I have just gotten off the phone, Bishop Dixon and
Bishop Bady, who are watching hungry people come to a site, looking for
food.
{time} 2000
As I was speaking to the emergency leadership, they are indicating
they were evacuating babies from apartments and people were being
displaced.
So what does that have to do with where we are today and no budget?
Well, we know that the President introduced his budget a few months
ago.
Because of his responsibility, we know that Homeland Security was
provided funding and FEMA was provided funding to deal with emergency
declarations of a disaster.
My district now needs it more than they have ever needed it. They
need it in terms of providing for those immediate needs of vulnerable
people without the resources to have stocked food, medical care,
clothing, and also those who may be off work now because of the
disaster.
So we don't have a budget. We are not moving along to ensure that
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FEMA, which has seen a lot of disasters over the last 2 years, has the
necessary funding to do their job. That is a broken moral compass.
It also reflects the Constitution because we are owed an equal
treatment under the law and due process under the Fifth Amendment.
There is no due process when I hear that one area is under water and we
are not able to get help.
Let me also say that, as I watch a broken moral system, I also look
at the predicament that we will be in with the Zika virus.
Congressman Jeffries has mentioned the opioid crisis, and we cannot
forget the water crisis in Flint, but there is also the water crisis
across the Nation. There is hard work that is being done by the Members
in Michigan and Mr. Kildee.
They need a budget to be able to fund the crisis or to help repair
the crisis, restorative dollars, that a budget does to give a roadmap
to the appropriators.
I also know that we are facing another potential epidemic, if you
will, the Zika virus that is taking control of places like Puerto Rico
and other places in the Caribbean, places that we have not yet fully
documented. I can assure you that the Gulf Coast States of Florida,
Louisiana, and Texas are in the eye of the storm.
The President a couple of months ago dutifully and responsibly
introduced to this Congress a request of $1.9 billion--no, I didn't say
trillions. I didn't say 5 billion. I said 1.9 billion--so that the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention can do their job.
Mr. Jeffries, colleagues, if we are not doing our job, we need those
who have the distinctive responsibility for issues of health and
epidemics in this country to be able to do their job.
We have now been told by the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention that it is not just in the prestages of pregnancy that the
Zika virus can have a severe impact.
It is throughout the pregnancy. We also know that they have just
determined that it will be severe brain damage that will come about.
So how irresponsible can it be to not put forward the emergency
supplemental of $1.9 billion? I have sent letters to Secretary Burwell.
I have sent letters to, obviously, the President of the United States
in supporting his efforts. I have sent letters to our leader, Nancy
Pelosi, who has been a champion on these issues of Zika funding. And I
have sent a letter to Speaker Paul Ryan.
Might I speak to the Speaker and certainly ask that a half-baked, if
I might say, contribution to fighting the Zika virus is not going to
work because any taking of monies from other places is going to damage
the funding of malaria, tuberculosis, and a universal flu vaccine. Yes,
it is going to undermine our needed and continued effort of fighting
Ebola.
Let me finish by simply saying this: Along with the idea of the Zika
virus and other crises, when we hear headlines like this that indicate
Americans still don't see a vibrant labor market, then you know what
else is needed under this budget? We need a budget to be able to fully
fund the retraining of Americans.
I have introduced legislation that will train middle-age or middle-
management workers and others and give them a stipend while they are
being retrained for the 21st century jobs. We cannot do that with a
budget not passed and an assessment not being made on how we would fund
job training.
Lastly, the Supreme Court heard a case today dealing with the issues
of executive orders and immigration. I would argue that Texas and the
other States do not have standing because they are not required to give
driver's licenses or anything else, as the President provides a
prioritization of who should be deported.
I will say to you that, over the years, we have said over and over
again to pass comprehensive immigration reform, which could have been a
key element of a budget revenue to be able to help this country move
along.
Without a budget and an intelligent discussion about what
comprehensive immigration reform would do as an added revenue for this
country, here we are mumbling along while Houston remains under water,
needing resources from FEMA, while the Zika virus is in distress with
no monies and while a number of other important issues are not
addressed.
Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Jeffries for allowing me to spend a moment
to at least tie in the Bill of Rights that deal with the very core
values of this country.
We have let down that basic document that guarantees equal
protection, guarantees a certain freedom to be protected, guarantees
that Americans have due process, if you will, and certainly guarantees
the freedom of expression so that Americans can speak and be heard.
They are speaking, but they are not being heard. What a shame that this
budget has not been passed.
I am grateful to the Congressional Black Caucus. Let me acknowledge
the chairman and say: Let us keep our fight going because we have
reason to provide that kind of comfort to the American people.
Madam Speaker, Last week, House Republicans blew past the statutory
deadline for Congress to enact a budget--reflecting apparently the
belief of the Leadership that their already severe budget proposal was
not radical enough to pass through a Republican Majority.
The Do-Nothing Republican Congress is back.
Instead of coming together with Democrats to pass a budget resolution
that will create jobs and grow the paychecks of hard-working American
families, Republicans have decided not to pass a budget at all.
The Republican-led Budget Committee, at the direction of the House
GOP Leadership, put forward the most devastating `Road to Ruin' budget
in history, but the Republican majority has rejected the plan as
insufficiently severe.
Here's what was too weak to satisfy the radical forces that have
seized control of the Republican Party; a budget that would:
1. End the Medicare guarantee for seniors;
2. Make $6.5 trillion in cuts--the sharpest cuts ever proposed by the
House Budget Committee;
3. Devastate investments in good-paying jobs, education, and American
infrastructure;
4. Repeal the Affordable Care Act and dismantle the affordable health
care of 20 million Americans.
Republicans have failed to keep their promise to pass a budget but
their goal is still clear: to take us back to the radical trickle-down
agenda that shattered our economy and hollowed out the wages of middle-
class Americans.
At the same time, House Republicans have done nothing to help the
thousands of Americans struggling to protect their families from the
three public health emergencies of the Zika virus, opioid addiction and
the Flint Water Crisis:
1. As the House Democratic Leadership wrote to Speaker Ryan last
month, these public health crises require swift and decisive
Congressional action.
2. Also last week, Democrats on the Appropriations Committee wrote to
Chairman Hal Rogers (R-KY), requesting an immediate hearing on the
Administration's $1.9 billion emergency supplemental request for Zika,
pointing out that ``The Zika virus is a true public health emergency
that has the potential to affect millions of Americans this summer,
including more than two million pregnant women.''
3. But House Republicans have responded with nothing but inaction and
indifference.
Instead of taking action to pass a budget or address urgent public
health crises, House Republicans are now wasting a full week
grandstanding on the IRS.
That's just the kind of hollow, meaningless posturing the American
people have come to expect from the Do-Nothing Republican Congress.
As NPR notes:
Under Republican leadership, the 114th Congress has been ``short on
meaty legislation and short on weeks in session . . . But there seems
to be plenty of time to think about other things. Last month, one House
member introduced a measure that would nationally recognized magic as
an art form.''
Hard-working families deserve a Congress that invests in their
future, protects safety, and creates a level-playing field for them and
their children to succeed.
Democrats will continue to press for a budget that creates jobs and
raises the paychecks of the American people, while reducing the deficit
in a balanced and responsible way.
Today, the Supreme -Court heard oral arguments in its review of the
President's Immigration Executive Actions, which, as a result of
congressional Republicans' inaction, address our Nation's broken
immigration system and set important priorities in enforcing our
immigration laws.
The President's executive actions fall well within both the clear
legal authority provided by Congress and the Constitution, and the
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well-established precedents of immigration actions by every Democrat
and Republican President for the last 50 years.
1. Six Republican presidents have used the same clear authority to
make our immigration enforcement priorities better fit our values as a
people and our needs as a nation;
2. Past presidents have routinely acted in the face of Congressional
inaction;
3. Numerous noted legal scholars have found that the President's
actions are well within his legal authority.
The Immigration Executive Actions follow the same constitutional and
legal precedent used by every Administration--Republican and
Democratic--since President Eisenhower.
Just as Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush did before him,
President Obama took executive action to make our immigration system
better meet the needs of our country and better reflect our values as
Americans.
As former Republican Senator Richard Lugar wrote in the New York
Times:
``. . . whether or not you like President Obama's actions, he has
operated under longstanding provisions of law that give the executive
branch discretion in enforcement. This presidential prerogative has
been recognized explicitly by the Supreme Court.''
Democrats stand for restoring sense to our utterly broken immigration
system--so that we stop tearing apart families and separating parents
from their children.
Last month, House and Senate Democrats filed our own amicus brief
with the Supreme Court in support of the President's Immigration
Executive Actions.
We are confident that the Supreme Court will affirm these vital
immigration reforms and allow the President's steps to start fixing our
immigration system to move forward.
While Republicans stand with Donald Trump's incendiary anti-immigrant
agenda, Democrats will continue to champion the comprehensive
immigration reform our nation needs.
Mr. JEFFRIES. Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentlewoman from
Texas. She raises several important points.
One of the things that has struck me during my time here in Congress
is that, under Republican reign, we have consistently seen government
by crisis on one issue after the next.
From the group of people that spend so much time messaging the point
to the American people that they believe in fiscal responsibility,
where is the fiscal responsibility in failing to put forth a budget
consistent with the law that you supported?
The other thing that amazes me--and the gentlewoman from Texas raised
the point about the Supreme Court case that was argued earlier today on
the immigration executive order issued by the President--I sit on the
Judiciary Committee along with the Honorable Sheila Jackson Lee and we
hear almost every week about how lawless this President allegedly has
been in terms of his time in office.
Now, it is interesting to consistently hear the lectures about how
lawless this President has allegedly been from people who believe that
President Barack Obama exceeded his authority on January 20, 2009, the
moment that he took the oath of office because there are folks who
still cannot believe that this man is the President and leader of the
free world. So I never buy that lawlessness argument.
This is a group now that supports essentially undermining the
Constitution over in the other house of this Congress. The President
has done his job in putting forth the Supreme Court nominee, who is
clearly qualified not according to Members of the Congressional Black
Caucus, but according to Orrin Hatch himself, one of the leading
Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, amongst others.
The lawlessness is not taking place at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. It
is taking place right here in the United States Congress under the
leadership of House and Senate Republicans.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Will the gentleman yield?
Mr. JEFFRIES. I yield to the gentlewoman from Texas.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, let me just finish my point by saying
that the reason why the budget is not here is because they could not
muster the votes of the majority and they could not muster them even
though their budget ended Medicare, it took $6.5 trillion in cuts from
the overall budget, it devastated good-paying jobs, education, American
infrastructure, and, again, it repealed the Affordable Care Act and
dismantled the Affordable Care Act for 20 million people.
Even with those poison pills to draw in support for some kind of
budget that would fit within the law, their responsibility or the
responsibility of Congress--they are in the majority--they could not
pass or get on the floor a budget.
Clearly, the moral compass is broken. More importantly, it denies
equal protection under the law, in my interpretation, of millions of
Americans depending on this Congress doing its job.
Mr. JEFFRIES. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the thoughtful observations
of the gentlewoman from Texas.
I think we want to bring Representative Stacy Plaskett into this
conversation in terms of the stunning inability to present a budget.
As Representative Jackson Lee said, what else is there to do in terms
of satisfying the extreme elements of your party? Privatize Social
Security and throw older people out of their homes across the country?
What else can you do?
We are going to explore some of these draconian cuts that were in a
budget that apparently is not extreme enough.
I yield to the gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands (Ms. Plaskett), my
good friend and colleague by way of Brooklyn, New York, I point out. We
are so thankful for her presence here in the Congress. It is my honor
now to yield to her.
Ms. PLASKETT. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Jeffries and I thank
the Congressional Black Caucus for giving us this opportunity to always
be the conscience of this Congress.
I want to thank the gentleman for his tireless efforts to raise
awareness on not just the Committee on the Judiciary, but all of the
work that he does.
This group has come together this evening to talk about the fact that
once again the Republicans have created a road to ruin in their budget
failure.
We talked about the fact that this Republican Congress has blown past
the statutory deadline to enact a budget last week, reflecting,
apparently, the belief of the leadership that their already severe
budget proposal was not even radical enough to pass through this
Republican majority.
The gentleman talked about some of the draconian measures that were
already in the budget that they had proposed, which seems to have not
been sufficient enough for their caucus.
At the direction of the House GOP leadership, the Budget Committee
put forth one of the most devastating budgets in history and the
majority rejected that plan as insufficient, which can only lead us to
believe that it was not even severe enough for them.
Some of the things that were in that budget were an end to a Medicare
guarantee for seniors, makes $6.5 trillion in cuts--the sharpest cuts
ever proposed by the House Budget Committee--devastates investments in
good-paying jobs, education, and American infrastructure, repeals the
Affordable Care Act and dismantling the affordable health care of 20
million Americans.
Now, as expressed by the gentlewoman from Ohio (Mrs. Beatty), in
February, the administration, our President, requested support for
Americans through the budget that he submitted to this Congress, which
provided support for education, job training support, bolstering our
obligation to seniors, real tools for growth for the territories in
Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and others by inclusion in the
Affordable Care Act and expansion of Medicare.
But it seems that the Republicans have failed their promise to pass a
budget, never mind even listen to or hear the head of OMB on that
budget.
Their goal is still clear, to take us back to radical, trickle-down
agenda that shattered our economy in the past and hollowed out the
wages of middle-class Americans.
At that same time, House Republicans have done nothing to help the
thousands of Americans struggling to protect their families from the
three public health crises the chief spoke of: Zika, the opioid addict
addictions, and the Flint water crisis. In Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico,
Florida, and now even Texas, this is a real crisis concerns the Zika
virus.
Last week, Democrats on the Appropriations Committee wrote to
Chairman Hal Rogers requesting an immediate hearing on the
administration's
[[Page H1791]]
1.9 billion emergency supplemental request for Zika, pointing out that:
``The Zika virus is a true public health emergency that has the
potential to affect millions of Americans this summer, including more
than 2 million pregnant women.''
What did that committee do? Absolutely nothing. Not even the respect
of a hearing. They have not responded to anything but just their
inaction and indifference.
{time} 2015
Instead of taking action to pass a budget or address urgent public
health crises, the House Republicans are now wasting a full week
grandstanding on the IRS. That is just the kind of hollow, meaningless
posturing the American people have come to expect from this Congress.
Hardworking families deserve a Congress that invests in their future,
protects their safety, creates a level playing field for them and their
children to succeed. Democrats will continue to press for a budget that
creates jobs, raises the paychecks, creates opportunities for American
people while reducing the deficit in a balanced and responsible way.
I look forward to hearing, with the rest of my colleagues, their
thoughts on this budget process and even possibly solutions for us as
American people to come away with a clear budget that creates growth
and opportunities for Americans.
Mr. JEFFRIES. Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative Plaskett. She
raised several important points. She noted that our colleagues on the
other side of the aisle continue to embrace this notion of trickle-down
economics, which is sort of the foundation of many of the slash-and-
burn cuts that are contained in at least a budget document that has
been passed in prior years and the document that was put forth by the
Committee on the Budget this year, this belief that if you lower the
tax rate for millionaires and billionaires, that it will result in some
residual benefit to the American people. But there is an irony in the
embrace even of that term, ``trickle-down economics.''
With the leadership of Representative Bobby Scott and others, the CBC
has consistently put forth a budget designed to open the floodgates of
prosperity for working class Americans and middle class folks all
throughout this country, but what the Republicans want to do is
trickle-down economics. The only thing that you get with that
philosophy, you may get a trickle, but you are guaranteed to stay down.
We are thankful that Representative Scott for so many years has
consistently put forth through his leadership a budget from the
Congressional Black Caucus designed to be both fiscally responsible and
consistent with our ideals as a country that looks out for the least of
those amongst us.
Let me now yield to the distinguished representative from the
Commonwealth of Virginia, Mr. Bobby Scott.
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for
getting the title of our State correct. I thank the gentleman from New
York and the gentlewoman from Ohio for yielding and organizing
tonight's Special Order.
Last week, the House of Representatives failed to pass a budget by
the statutorily mandated date of April 15. This failure is unfortunate
for our budget process, but perhaps not unfortunate for the American
people because no budget is better than the proposed Republican budget
that would have been brought to the floor.
Our Nation's budget reflects priorities, but the Republican budget
only highlights the wrong priorities. The budget the House Republicans
wanted to bring to the floor would be even more devastating to
students, working families, and seniors than their previous proposals.
The Republican budget would end the Medicare guarantee for seniors by
converting Medicare into a voucher payment that would not keep pace
with medical inflation, shifting billions of dollars in medical costs
onto our senior citizens.
The Republican budget would repeal the Affordable Care Act and would
jeopardize the health insurance for millions of Americans, even though
the budget assumes all of the revenue collected by the Affordable Care
Act to pay for the Affordable Care Act, all of those taxes remain in
the budget.
The Republican budget includes a total of $6.5 trillion in spending
cuts, largely unspecified. If this level of cuts were ever made, it
would devastate our investments and jobs, education, research, and
would essentially eliminate any new transportation projects.
On top of these devastating cuts to vital programs that support and
uplift hardworking American families, the Republican budget calls for
trillions of dollars in tax cuts that would primarily benefit
millionaires and billionaires, and then they claim the tax cuts would
be revenue neutral, suggesting that we are to believe that trillions of
dollars in new taxes would be imposed to pay for those tax cuts for the
wealthy. But despite this, the Republican budget is not a credible
plan.
Are we really going to dismantle Medicare? Are we really going to cut
hundreds of billions of dollars out of education and job training and
transportation? Are we really going to raise trillions of dollars in
new taxes to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy?
I don't think so. But the House leadership couldn't even secure
enough votes for this budget proposal because a faction of their
conference wanted even deeper, unrealistic spending cuts. Budgeting is
about making tough choices, and the only choice the Republicans seem to
have made with the budget proposal is that we can only balance the
budget on the backs of students, workers, seniors, the disabled, and
vulnerable communities across the Nation while cutting taxes for the
wealthy.
The Congressional Black Caucus knows that is not the right choice.
That is why, as we have done for the last 30 years, we have diligently
prepared our own budget alternative to the Republican budget, which we
would have offered as an amendment to the Republican budget if they had
brought up their proposal.
The CBC budget chooses to invest in programs that we know will grow
our economy and ensure that every American family is able to prosper.
Our budget proposes a comprehensive jobs program, totaling $500 billion
over 3 years that will accelerate our economic recovery and ensure that
it reaches virtually every community in America while also investing in
what will guarantee America's long-term economic competitiveness.
This jobs plan includes funding for direct jobs creation programs,
school modernization, jobs for teachers and first responders, immediate
investments in our Nation's crumbling infrastructure, assistance
for neighborhoods and families still reeling from the housing crisis,
job training programs, and summer jobs.
Our budget calls for significant and sustained investments--
approximately $300 billion over the next decade--above the President's
request for programs that have been instrumental in lifting millions of
Americans out of poverty. Some of these proposals include restoration
of cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, expanding
access to affordable housing, increasing access to quality and
affordable education, increasing funding for job training and Trade
Adjustment Assistance, adjusting the earned income tax credit and child
tax credit to inflation, as well as decreasing the age where you can
benefit for the earned income tax credit down to 21 years of age.
Thanks to the leadership of Congressman Jim Clyburn, our budget also
ensures that Federal resources are targeted more efficiently toward
eradicating poverty by targeting Federal spending toward persistent
areas of poverty through the 10-20-30 formula.
Our budget also includes more than $340 billion above the President's
request for education over the next decade. This additional money will
help make college more affordable by increasing the Pell grant, fully
funding the President's free community college program, reducing
interest rates on student loans, and financing other proposals to
ensure that no student graduates from college saddled with unmanageable
debt.
The CBC budget also provides much-needed funding for families of
Flint, Michigan, to help address the short-term and long-term cognitive
and behavioral development of children exposed to high lead levels.
However, the
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Congressional Black Caucus appreciates, unfortunately, that Flint is
not the only community in America impacted by lead exposure. This is
why our budget includes funds to help not only Flint, but also other
communities across the Nation deal with the effects of lead exposure.
Unlike the Republican budget, the CBC budget clearly shows how we pay
for these additional investments. Our budget sets a new revenue target
of $4 trillion over the next 10 years above the current revenue
baseline. To demonstrate how this is achievable and realistic, our
budget suggests several specific alternatives, totaling $7 trillion,
that the House and Senate committees can choose from to reach that
target.
We ask for $4 trillion in new additional and specifically outline at
least $7 trillion to choose from. We do this by specifically talking
about closing specific corporate loopholes, treating capital gains and
dividends as regular income, a reasonable fee for financial
transactions, restoring the estate tax to levels paid over a few years
ago, specific items where you can choose from and, in fact, if we just
cancel the Bush-era tax cuts, we would have almost $4 trillion in new
revenue right there.
At the end of the day, our budget realistically reduces the deficit
by approximately $3.2 trillion over the next decade compared to the
Congressional Budget Office's March 2016 baseline. The CBC budget
chooses investments in America's children and workers, protects our
most vulnerable communities, and changes the wrong choices offered by
the Republican majority.
I hope that we will have an opportunity to debate these issues if the
House Republicans are ever able to bring their road-to-ruin budget to a
full House vote.
Again, I thank the gentleman from New York for yielding.
Mr. JEFFRIES. Would the gentleman indulge one question?
It was mentioned during that very thorough presentation of what is
contained in the CBC budget the 10-20-30 program, and of course 10-20-
30, an initiative that has been championed by the CBC through the
leadership of Representative Jim Clyburn, would put forth a formula
where 10 percent of the funding allocation would go to counties where
20 percent of the population has been living below the poverty line for
30 or more years. Is that correct?
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. That is correct. If you look at that, those
counties and areas are spread all over the country, and if we are ever
going to eradicate poverty, we have to target it to the high poverty
areas, and 10-20-30 does exactly that.
Mr. JEFFRIES. I thank the distinguished gentleman. In fact, what
Representative Clyburn has consistently pointed out, which I think is
important in an era where we are trying to find common ground and deal
with the problems confronting the American people, if you look at a
breakdown of persistently poor counties across the country and overlay
that with congressional districts, a majority of those counties are
actually represented by my colleagues on the other side of the aisle.
This is something that we believe should be embraced by the Speaker
and our colleagues on the other side of the aisle, as it would benefit,
by the numbers, the constituents that they represent even more so than
those of us within the CBC or on this side of the aisle.
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. That is exactly true. I thank the gentleman
very much for pointing that out.
Mr. JEFFRIES. Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative Scott.
Let me now ask my colleague, the gentlewoman from Ohio (Mrs. Beatty),
to just react to some of what we have heard.
One of the things that I thought was interesting in the presentation
related to this budget is that if you look at the numbers, they are so
extreme. I was on the Committee on the Budget during my first 2 years
in Congress, but these numbers are even more extreme than what I
remember in the 113th Congress. The budget apparently will cut $157
billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program over a 10-
year period.
The Republican budget that came out of the committee would cut
roughly $2 trillion from Medicaid. When I was on the committee, the
number was $700 million. I thought that was out of control, $700
million. Now we are at $2 trillion over a 10-year period apparently.
And then we have got cuts in higher education. The proposal is $185
billion over 10 years.
You have to ask the question: Why would anyone propose such draconian
cuts?
The answer is clear. This is not something that is often talked
about, but the objective is to create a situation where you can
dramatically lower the tax rates for the wealthiest amongst us. The top
tax rate right now is 39.6 percent, but what the budget that has been
put forth by my colleagues on the other side of the aisle would do is
that it would create two tax rates, one at 10 and the other at 25
percent. So what you will see is a tax cut that goes from 39.6 percent
to 25 percent.
The way that you balance a budget and pay for it is on the backs of
working families, the middle class, senior citizens, children, the
disabled, the poor, the afflicted, and everybody else who doesn't fall
into the category of millionaire or billionaire.
{time} 2030
Now, you wonder how it could be possible that anyone could think that
they could get away with such a draconian budget. Well, again, the
argument is trickle-down economics.
But what I found fascinating--and maybe you could react to this,
Representative Beatty--is that if you actually look at a side-by-side
comparison of the economy 8 years under President Clinton with a side-
by-side comparison of the economy 8 years under George W. Bush, and
then a side-by-side comparison of the economy 8 years under President
Obama, I think it is pretty clear who actually has been the responsible
fiscal stewards.
There were 20.3 million jobs created under the Clinton Presidency.
America lost 650,000 jobs in 8 years under the Bush Presidency. America
has now gained more than 14 million private sector jobs under 8 years
of the Obama Presidency.
What has been demonstrated is that the argument that if you lower tax
rates, you create economic prosperity, is phony. Because Bill Clinton
raised the top tax rate to 39.6 percent. It didn't seem to adversely
impact the economy. In fact, it was humming between 1992 and 2000.
George Bush comes to office, lowers the tax rate for high-income
earners from 39.6 percent to 35 percent. We had the greatest recession
in the history of modern America; the worst financial crisis since the
Great Depression.
President Obama comes into office and he raises the top tax rate
again from 35 to 39.6, more than 14 million jobs are created, the
unemployment rate has dropped under his tenure from over 10 percent to
5 percent, the deficit has been reduced by more than a trillion
dollars. The stock market has gone from 6,000 to over 16,000. Now it is
up to 18,000. I haven't been in the 401(k) system as long as
Congressman Scott, who clearly is monitoring the situation. So the
prosperity numbers have been phenomenal.
I yield to the gentlewoman from Ohio (Mrs. Beatty) for her reaction.
Mrs. BEATTY. I think Mr. Jeffries and our other colleagues have said
it so well, but here is what I am afraid of.
I think the Republicans--the GOP--want to take us down to the radical
trickle-down agenda that shattered our economy and hollowed out the
wages of middle class, hardworking Americans.
You said it all with that comparison from Clinton to Bush to now
President Obama. And I could add to that long list: some 18 million
people with health insurance; women having some of the best healthcare
opportunities, getting mammograms for those who are under- and
uninsured. We are able to have college students stay on their parent's
insurance.
So I think when we look at what is happening, there are billions of
dollars that they want to do away with in programs. And we can add to
that: the $185 billion from Federal college aid for low-income students
or the $150 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program,
or SNAP. Many of my constituents refer to that as their food stamps.
And certainly, but for the Congressional Black Caucus, those members on
the Agriculture Committee, those Members in leadership fighting for us
to restore those dollars, I think it is quite simple.
[[Page H1793]]
I think what we are hearing tonight from our members of the
Congressional Black Caucus is that they are trying to take us back in
history. They are trying to take us back to an era of time, and we are
not going to let them do that. We have too much at stake. We have
gained so much.
Someone may ask us tonight: Why are we here? Why are we the
conscience of the Congress, Mr. Speaker? Why are we here tonight
talking about the road to ruin and destruction by not having a
congressional budget?
I think the facts speak for themselves. I think that the American
public needs to know that this is not something that just affects the
Congressional Black Caucus. I want that to be clear. This affects
America.
You mentioned it with Mr. Clyburn's 10-20-30. The fact is more
individuals who don't look like members of the Congressional Black
Caucus will benefit. And that is the difference between Democrats and
Republicans. We care about all people.
They profess to have hearings on poverty, and then when you look at
the results of their own budget and what they are doing to those
individuals who live in poverty--chuckle we may, clear our voice, Mr.
Speaker, as we may--the facts speak for themselves. They are not
creating programs that will help us eliminate poverty. And it is as
simple as that.
Mr. JEFFRIES. I thank you for laying that out. And I think history
can be judged by objective observers as it relates to fiscal
responsibility. But a few facts that perhaps some in the Chamber may
have had amnesia about, but maybe it bears going through.
Sequestration and painful budget cuts as it relates to the extreme
agenda of some here in the Congress have been brought to us in a manner
that has cost us both jobs and the ability to experience accelerated
financial growth.
We saw in the aftermath of a severe economic shock the approach that
was taken by our friends over in Europe of extreme austerity did not
bear financial fruit. It was the stimulus package that was put forth--
with not a single vote from anyone on the other side of the aisle--that
was actually the financially responsible approach taken to help deal
with the train wreck that President Obama inherited and to get the
economy back on track.
But, of course, the objective from the very beginning--not my words,
but the words of the Senate majority leader on the other side of the
Capitol--was to make the President a one-term President.
I just don't even understand the philosophy of a President who takes
office, inherits the worst economy since the Great Depression, and the
number one agenda is to make sure that he is a one-term President. But
that was an unsuccessful political endeavor. He gets a second term.
The first thing that some of my good friends on the other side of the
aisle decide to do, as we approach the end of the fiscal year in 2013,
was to shut down the government for 16 days. It cost us $24 billion in
lost economic productivity. That is not hyperbole. Those are facts.
And what was it all for?
Because there is this obsession--perhaps clinical in nature--with the
Affordable Care Act. This is why we voted more than 50 times to destroy
it, defeat it, delay it, and do everything possible to stop it.
What could be possibly wrong with making sure that preexisting
conditions don't prevent someone here in the greatest country in the
history of the world from being able to get adequate medical care? What
is wrong with more than 20 million previously uninsured Americans
actually having health care?
Yet, in the budget that apparently is not extreme enough, we would
take away the Affordable Care Act.
So these are just some of the facts. I wish we had some more time to
explore it. That is not hyperbole. Historians will judge this
Presidency and this Congress. I, of course, am of the belief that many
will conclude that this is a Congress that has majored in obstruction,
minored in dysfunction, and done everything possible to pursue a degree
in legislative malpractice to the detriment of the American people. And
I am hopeful that we can just get back on track and try to find common
ground to do the business of the American people, which is why each and
every one of us was sent here to the people's House.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, the Republican
controlled House has once again missed a key deadline when it failed to
pass a budget resolution before April 15. Despite promises to the
contrary, House Speaker Paul Ryan has been unable to bring a budget
resolution to the floor in a timely fashion. This is simply
unacceptable.
Completing a budget resolution is an important step in the budget
process that will lay out Congress' spending priorities and create a
unified vision for a more prosperous nation. While Democrats have
endeavored to work cooperatively with Republicans to pass a
comprehensive budget resolution, Speaker Ryan has insisted on pushing a
budget that divides our country while further slashing critical
investments aimed at strengthening our economy. The Republican budget
reflects the needs of only a select few instead of the views and
priorities of every American and places the burden of deficit reduction
squarely on the backs of middle and working class Americans.
It is clear that our most vulnerable segments of the population--the
elderly, minorities, low-income earners, and others--have been most
impacted by the Great Recession. Yet this latest Republican budget
resolution continues to reflect the failed economic worldview that
wealth will trickle down when we give massive tax breaks to the
wealthy. Time and time again, history has demonstrated that this is
simply untrue.
It is unfortunate that the Republican-controlled Congress today is
subjecting millions of hard-working families to even greater pressures
to work longer hours for less pay, while we continue to prop up the
wealthiest earners and biggest corporations with tax breaks and other
loopholes. The Republican budget exemplifies these principles and
drives the wedge deeper between the wealthy and our most vulnerable.
Mr. Speaker, I believe our nation is on a dangerous path under this
Republican leadership. Congress should be working to create jobs and
increase pay for hard-working American families, not giving additional
tax breaks to the wealthy and cutting spending for key social programs
The Republicans have long abandoned their commitment to pass a budget
resolution that reflects the needs of all Americans. Thus, I am
strongly urging my colleagues to support fiscally sound and morally
responsible budget alternatives that will create a level playing field
and new opportunities for every American.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Loudermilk). The Chair would remind
Members that remarks in debate may not engage in personalities toward
the President, including by repeating remarks made elsewhere that would
be improper if spoken in the Member's own words.
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